


Child of Hades | Interactive PJO HOO CHB Story

by jarofstarschb



Series: Child Of Series [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:02:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 52,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27529645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jarofstarschb/pseuds/jarofstarschb
Summary: BOOK TWO IN THE 'CHILD OF' INTERACTIVE SERIES.That's right. You're a demigod.It's a lot to take in, but you'll have to learn to accept it - and fast!The good news is that you aren't the first demigod (and hopefully not the last). There are plans in place to keep you safe. But the journey to becoming a hero is a hard one - can you overcome it?'Child of Hades' official description inside. Click 'read' to view.This series is loosely based on books by Rick Riordan. It puts you in the shoes of a demigod, and you won't disappoint. In this book, your godly parent is Hades.Good luck, young hero.Please note: This book was originally set for girls, but everything in here are gender-neutral.No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any forms or by any means without written permission from the publisher/author.NOTE: This was written way back in 2017/2018 and there are definitely things I would have done differently if I wrote it now, but someone asked me to put the story up here, so I shall.
Series: Child Of Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2012167
Kudos: 3





	1. Description

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: This was written way back in 2017/2018 and there are definitely things I would have done differently if I wrote it now, but someone asked me to put the story up here, so I shall. I'm copy and pasting it from wattpad, and I'm not going over the story to edit it from there. Sorry for the mistakes and questionable elements, I hope you enjoy the story.

DESCRIPTION

There's something wrong with the rivers in the Underworld...

After being thrown into the world of Greek mythology in the worst of ways, your dad, the macho King of Death himself, tells you you're the only one who can help him out. Against his wishes, you bring another demigod with you to the Underworld, because gods know you can't do this alone.

Secrets unravel that send you spiralling, both downwards and upwards. When faced with the threat behind the Underworld shenanigans, will you curb your instincts and join the side against your father, or will you help save the world of the dead?

Find out in this Interactive Story.

.

EXCERPT

The series is called the "Child Of" series. As you may have guessed, each book is of a different god;

1\. Child of Zeus [written]  
2\. Child of Hades (replacing Hera for obvious reasons) [written]  
3\. Child of Poseidon  
4\. Child of Demeter  
5\. Child of Ares  
6\. Child of Athena  
7\. Child of Apollo  
8\. Hunter of Artemis  
9\. Child of Hephaestus   
10\. Child of Aphrodite  
11\. Child of Hermes  
12\. Child of Dionysus

In every book, YOU are the main character, the demigod, the hero. Alongside your satyr (or sometimes not), you will fight your way to Camp Half-Blood approximately sixty-one years after the timeline in TOA. Being a demigod is hard, and with different parents come different challenges you need to overcome. (Note that this book is set two years before Child of Zeus. Also note you do not need to have read Child of Zeus to understand anything in this story.)

These books WILL TAKE TIME TO WRITE! This could span over the next few years. Now, enjoy the excerpt. The full book will be posted soon.

EXCERPT:

I crossed to the ever-glowing fire pit in the centre of the cabins in the U of the Omega. I enjoyed the way it moved, the warmth and light it provided in the night, and I moved on. It sounded like a flock of birds was moving in the sky above me. I made my way past cabins one and two, which looked like twin mausoleums, and I headed towards the glittering of the ocean.

In all of this madness, I couldn't wrap my hands around the waves being so calm, so peaceful. The moon cast a silver glow above the water as it ascended higher into the sky. The closer I got, the colder the air turned as water gently lapped against the sand. The birds overhead got louder as I stepped onto the beach.

"Camper out of bed!" Something screeched. "Dinner for hungry harpies!" I looked up. Instead of birds, I came face to face with what looked like a hybrid between a dodo bird and a woman. Her rust-coloured wings ran the length of her arms, her flapping was persistent and loud. Where her hands should have been were large talons, her hair was as brown as the rest of her was, her eyes blacker than cabin thirteen. Her legs looked like they belonged to a chicken, scales replaced the feathers that wound their way around her slimy body. Above her, descending at a slower rate, were two of the very same things.

I screamed bloody murder when the first one landed in front of me, opening her mouth wide enough to show me her pearly white fangs. She reached a sharp talon out, and I shut my eyes, tight.

"Away." A voice said with such certainty my first thought was that it must be Chiron. But the voice was far too young to be the immortal horse man, and the boy standing in front of me wasn't any part horse. I watched the harpies recoil as if dazed, they flapped their wings and were off without giving me a second glance.

"Who are you?" I asked immediately, throwing my arms out. "How did you do-"

The boy stumbled back into my outstretched arms, and gently I lowered him to a laying position. "Whoa," I muttered, resting his head on my knees like some sort of very uncomfortable pillow. The moonlight hit his face just right for me to recognize him.


	2. ONE: Not Today

I'm starting this stupid journal off by telling you: none of this was my idea. Dr. Clinn told me to start writing it all down. I don't like keeping diaries, I don't like spilling my secrets out for the world to read — but here you are. Reading it.

I guess I have no choice but to go on, huh?

I'd like to say this all began on Wednesday. I was in Dr. Harriet Clinn's office, a familiar site to me. Every Wednesday morning I'd be here, inside Mountain Lake Hospital (that name is too bad to make up, I swear), psychiatric wing, talking to my psychiatrist about my hallucinations, and the meds I was currently on to try to counter them. By the way, probably important to note that I'm a schizophrenic. Yup, nice to meet you, too. This trip to Dr. Clinn's office was one of the most nerve-wracking since the first time I sat down in the canary yellow chair in front of her oak desk. That was the day she diagnosed me, almost four years ago.

Dr. Clinn fixed her red-rimmed glasses over her eyes, and smiled at me coyly. Her blonde hair was fixed up in a tight bun, she was wearing her favourite blue blouse, and she was sitting tall in her chair.

For some reason, Monday of that same week was one of the worst days I'd ever had. Auditory hallucinations were rare for me, and those coupled with triple the normal amount of visual hallucinations meant Monday was probably my worst break ever. I stayed home from school (not that much of a surprising occurrence. When possible, I got out of school easily. I was picked on for seeing things that weren't there. Hallucinations followed me down every hallway...), Simon had to stay with me because my mom worked from eight in the evening to ten in the afternoon and slept when she got home, and I couldn't be left alone when I had episodes. I got no sleep, and Simon missed his math test.

Tuesday the auditory aspects had calmed down and left me alone, but the visual hallucinations stayed to keep me company. I put this in loose terms because there is no way for me to accurately write down how my episodes worked. It wasn't pleasant. It was frustrating. And I'm so grateful my best friend stuck by my side even when I was in such a horrible state of mind. Not to mention Dr. Clinn had prescribed every antipsychotic under the sun, and none of them took my hallucinations away.

Which brings us to Wednesday. I rubbed my forefinger against my thumb like I did when I got nervous. In my peripheral vision I could see Dr. Clinn looking at me. She sighed, and marked something off on her clip board. I knew that sigh. I'd only heard it once before; when she'd diagnosed me but threw in the fact that I was unlike any patient she'd ever had.

"You have schizophrenia, Y/N. It affects only one percent of the population, and most people diagnosed are older than twenty..." she had said softly, my mother by my side staring on blankly to the news. "But I have never met a schizophrenic with strictly visual hallucinations. That is not to say it has never happened before, but most are plagued with auditory alongside or, most commonly as opposed to visual."

She had gone on to tell me that I could have had it much worse - "not that this isn't bad or anything" - because auditory hallucinations almost always meant abusive voices telling a poor paranoid schizophrenic to do horrible things, or that horrible things were happening, or that horrible things were about to happen.

I braced myself when Dr. Clinn leaned against the desk and pulled her glasses off. Her sigh meant one of two things: bad news, or news I wouldn't like. I was surprised when all she did was ask me a routine question.

"How is Clozapine working out for you?" She looked worried about my answer.

A week ago, I'd started a new medicine, Clozapine. A drug designed for adults dealing with severe schizophrenia. I wasn't paranoid or in one of those "I'm God" delusions, and I wasn't high risk of committing suicide; I wasn't severe. But every other drug on the market suitable for me...We had tried them all. And none of them worked. Most medications made me a walking, barely-talking zombie with little to no will power to do anything. But none made my hallucinations go away. Put simply, if Clozapine didn't work, nothing would.

I didn't want to tell her about Monday. I didn't want to admit that these pills, these miracle pills that unlike the rest didn't make me a zombie, weren't working. That my last resort wasn't working. I didn't want to admit that I was incurable.

"It's only been a few days," She said after noticing my hesitation to answer. "It'll take time to kick in. I'm still worried about the side effects, have any occurred?"

I nodded. "The usual. Dizziness. Sweating. Blurred vision."

"Tremors?" Dr. Clinn asked. I shook my head. She made some notes, and tucked a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Good. Anything else? Anything worse?" She'd had a meeting with me and my mom before we started me on Clozapine. It had a lot more side effects than any other medication I've used, and some of them were hospital-worthy. I'd give it another week, and if these pills still didn't help, I'd ditch them. I wasn't going to risk a hospital visit for something that wasn't even helping me.

The rest of the meeting continued very on-schedule. Reminding me to take my medicine and how, asking about hallucinations knowing I wasn't going to answer. In all honesty, Simon was the only person I talked to in-depth about the things I saw, and even then I didn't say much about it. Aware of this, Dr. Clinn pestered me to the best of her ability during every session, and sighed heavily at the end of every session. It was on Wednesday, before I left the office, that she told me to start keeping notes about what I saw. "If you don't talk to me, you need another outlet to use."

~

I sat on a hard white bench outside, just hidden from the view of Dr. Clinn's office window. I waited patiently for Simon to get here so he could take me to school.

Listening to music was very beneficial to me. It let me focus on the melody instead of the world around me, if I wanted to I could play it so loud I could drown out anyone - even my hallucinations. Unfortunately, all my mom permitted me to use was an ancient iPod nano, with weird bronze plating that made it virtually indestructible - no matter how hard I threw it at the wall. I wasn't allowed a phone or a computer, but I was allowed a crummy old music player and headphones, and it got me by. Besides, Dr. Clinn warned against technology. Sometimes it messed with a schizophrenic's head. I mean, I wasn't paranoid, which was the real concern with computers, but if I got stuck on a game or watched a particularly terrifying video, Dr. Clinn promised my hallucinations would get worse.

Someone was tapping my shoulder.

I opened my previously closed eyes, expecting to be greeted by the familiar face of my best friend. Instead of Simon, a girl maybe three years younger than me in a white jumper dress was staring at me.

I quickly pulled my headphones out. I'd never seen another child patient around here - because schizophrenic patients were more often than not adults. Of course, she could be a sibling, or have a different disorder - there could be a million reasons why she was here. None of them gave me any reason as to why she'd start a conversation with me.

She was small, with dark skin and a large mass of curly black hair. Her dark eyes were hidden behind glasses not unlike Dr. Clinn's. Her nails, neatly done, retreated from poking my shoulder.

Her somber expression matched with her steady breathing made me worried to hear what she had to say.

"Hello." I said, almost like a question.

"It wasn't his fault." She whispered, biting the inside of her cheek. "He won't stop blaming himself, but it wasn't his fault."

I raised an eyebrow. Maybe she had an older brother being admitted to the hospital today. That was not uncommon, and frequently people were being checked in after doing something serious - like arson or having such a serious meltdown that they threatened someone close to them.

"Who?"

"You need to tell him," she insisted. "It wasn't his fault we got into that car accident. Tell him I'm okay. Tell him I'm alright. It wasn't his fault."

Car accident? Who did she want me to tell? "What are you -"

"Y/N," Simon had a hand on my shoulder, and I swivelled around to see him. "Ready to go?"

I turned back to the right - but the girl in the white dress was gone, like she'd never been there. I sighed, pressing my thumb to my first finger again. Simon looked at me sympathetically. He knew. Somehow, he always knew. I followed him to the car, and we drove to school.

~

I only saw two more hallucinations on Wednesday, and six on Thursday. They were getting more numerous and closer together. Clozapine still wasn't working, and by Friday morning I was debating staying home from school again.

"You can't miss today." Simon told me, pulling me towards his dad's car. "It's enchilada day in the cafeteria. No way are we missing that."

I put my headphones in as we got in the black chevy corolla. Simon understood me enough to not criticize me for wearing them instead of socializing. I stared out the window as we started on our way to school. I watched three old ladies climb onto a bus with the help of a kind stranger. A dog walker struggled to keep a german shepherd and great dane at bay. I turned back to Simon, but instead came face-to-face with a thirty-something year old man. I jumped so hard my head hit the ceiling of the car.

He had light brown hair and a wispy beard, pale skin only a few shades darker than his white formal suit. His hazel eyes were so bright they were almost glowing. He put his big, beefy hands on my shoulders and spoke quickly like something was after him. "It's not my time. It is not my time. Tell Margaret I love her. Can you do that?" He had a slight lisp, and his frantic eyes were looking almost through me. I tried turning up the volume on my headphones, the music blasting so loud into my ears it felt like they would pop. But I could still hear his voice with chilling clarity. "Can you do that?" His eyes widened as he looked over my shoulder, and he evaporated before my eyes.

Big, beefy hands were replaced by smaller, firmer ones. Simon was holding me, looking at me and saying something I couldn't hear through the music. He pulled me into a hug that was made awkward by our seatbelts, but neither of us pulled away.

Never once in my life had a hallucination replaced my best friend. Never once in my life had a hallucination grabbed onto me, looked through me, talked like I was his last hope in the world. My mind played tricks on me — it was always someone who fit into the scenario and acted the part of a random New Yorker. Hallucinations always wore faded colours, but lately, since Monday, they'd been wearing all white. Something was wrong. I was getting worse. Too bad to control anymore.

The rest of the way to school, I sobbed softly into Simon, music drowning out any sound. I felt Simon's chest hum as he inaudibly told me I was okay, that things were okay. He could easily have turned off my music, but Simon never once touched my iPod nano without me telling him to — he knew I used it to drown them out, and he knew I used it to comfort myself. As the car slowed to a halt, I pulled away from his embrace and looked up at him sparingly.

Simon frowned at me behind light eyes. He was a tall kid, 6'3", built like a football player with the brains of Steven Hawking. His blonde hair ran down to his shoulders like a wave of pure gold. He towered over me when we left the car, and guided me, headphones and all, to my first period class.

I hadn't noticed it prior, maybe because I was so wrapped up in my own head, but as Simon and I walked to our desks at the back of the class, I saw him clenching and unclenching his jaw. I turned my music down so I could hear my surroundings coincide with the melody in my ears.

"Test today?" I asked.

"What?" He asked, throwing his bag beside his desk as he took his seat.

"You seem nervous."

Simon smiled at me, pulled out his pencil case, and faced the teacher. "I'm fine." He said after a while. I wasn't sure. Between his need to be a 98% student in every class (he's had his share of breakdowns at his lowest: a 93%), and my schizophrenia, were Simon and I ever fine?

~

Lunch was a welcome of relief after Mr. Layne's third-period science class. Simon happily dragged me to the cafeteria to get enchiladas. I noticed he kept twitching his jaw in line, clenching and unclenching. Something was bugging him, even though he was smiling away. Still, Simon never pestered me to talk if I didn't want to, and I'd respect him the same way.

We walked around the north end of the school, and sat with our backs against the ugly orange bricks, facing the portable classrooms on the other end of the parking lot. This was our spot. From here we could see the mostly un-used football/soccer field and running track, the bright green leaves rustle as wind pulled through the trees, and the late students running to the portables for shelter from the wrath of vice principals roaming the parking lot on their way to lunch. An added bonus was the lack of student bodies present. Nobody ate lunch outside except Simon and I, and the lack of people made it easy for me to slip my iPod nano into my pocket and give my undivided attention to Simon. It was perfect.

"Maybe you should come over after school," Simon suggested.

I shrugged. "I think it's going to be a bad night. After this morning, and the little boy in white I saw in the hallway on my way to second period...It was weird, he didn't say anything, he just looked at me, and then he was gone. I just want to go home, Simon."

Simon coughed into his enchilada, successfully spilling the pasty meat filling inside all over his grey shirt and dark jeans. I frowned at him. He was an organized, intelligent individual who calculated every move in his head before he made it. He wouldn't likely spill food on himself.

"If something's wrong, you know you can tell me." I said. "No matter what's going on in my head, Simon, telling me what's up won't make it worse."

Simon looked queasy. "I'm not sure that's true in this case." At my reaction to this, he stood. "Never mind, I'm just gonna get some paper towels. I'll be right back." Before I could stop him, he ducked inside the door. I frowned into my enchiladas, and occupied myself by watching the cars that were passing by. I furrowed my brows when a dark blue SUV pulled into the parking lot.

I moved the paper plate of enchiladas on the ground beside me and pushed myself into a standing position. I stepped closer when the car finally pulled up in front of me, and my mother opened her window.

"Y/N I don't have much time, and I need you to listen to me."

"Mom?" She should be at work, with my therapy and medicine and school, she couldn't afford to be here, and I wasn't old enough to get a job. She smiled at me softly, but her forehead wrinkled and I could see a strange pain behind her eyes. That was the face she made when she spoke about my dad. "Mom, what's going on?"

"I love you." She spoke softly. "But you need to go."

I took a step back. "Mom?"

"It's not safe for you here anymore. You need to go now, it's almost here." I opened my mouth to speak when my eye caught on something it hadn't noticed before. My mom, who was never not in one of her work uniforms, was wearing all white. Clean, polished white. "I love you, Y/N. Know that I love you."

"Not today," I heard a voice whisper, almost panicky. Simon put a hand on my shoulder, and squeezed it tight. "Y/N," he said. I scrunched up my face. No, I'd never hallucinated people I knew. These were rules. These were the rules I had.

"Never once in my life has a hallucination replaced my best friend." I whispered. "Never once in my life has a hallucination grabbed onto me, looked through me, talked like I was his last hope in the world."

"Y/N, come with me, now."

"It is always someone who fits into the scenario and acts the part of a random New Yorker. Hallucinations always wear muted colours." I took a step away from the car, eyes wide. "These are the rules. These are the rules."

"Y/N!" Simon said, and my mom stared up at me sadly.

"Never once in my life has a hallucination been someone I know. Never once have I hallucinated more than a person." Simon started pulling me in another direction, but I wouldn't move. "These are the rules." I stepped towards the car, and reached to pull the door open. My hand went right through. I stumbled back into Simon, who stood looking past the car. It was there that I met my newest nightmare.


	3. TWO: Nothing Left To Say

It looked like a water buffalo.

It was brown, with shaggy fur covering the top of its head and wrapping around its neck like a scarf. It had a scaly back and shaggy eyebrows. The head seemed to be so heavy that the beast could only look down. Protruding from its mouth were two sets of tusks, twisted like gnarled tree trunks.

"Y/N, let's go."

"I've been taking my pills." I told him meekly. "You saw me this morning. It's not working. And now I'm getting worse."

"Y/N," he stood in front of me. "That thing you're seeing right now... It's not a hallucination. We need to go, now."

"This isn't funny." I told him. He didn't look like he was joking. I quickly checked his clothes. Still grey, not white. If that meant anything, this was Simon. The buffalo - or whatever my mind had conjured up, was quickly moving towards us. As it crossed the road to get into the parking lot, cars swivelled around it. "Describe it to me."

"What?" Simon blinked.

"You can see it? Describe it."

"Okay." I was surprised when he turned back around to look at it. No, he couldn't see it. That was insane. "Eight-and-a-half feet tall, low-hanging head, thick mane," My breath hitched. No, he couldn't see it. "It's called a Catoblepas, Y/N. It will kill us if we stayed here. I thought bringing you to school would be safer. I thought if I got you to school the monsters would go to your house instead of following you here."

You can't blame me for scrunching my face up and starting to cry. Not now, when everything I thought was real wasn't making sense. Simon couldn't see my hallucinations. Monsters weren't real. I didn't know what he was talking about. The thing - the Catoblepas, was only thirty feet away, and Simon was standing between me and it like a shield.

"Look at me," Simon said when I wouldn't let him pull me out of the way. "I always tell you what's real and what's not. Your mom? She wasn't there. I'm here. I'm real. And so is that. You need to come." His light grey eyes were shifting back and forth between my own.

I looked past him, the Catoblepas snorted, and I followed the shape of its low head until my eyes met its. They glowed green, and I suddenly got very dizzy.

"Don't look it in the eyes! Y/N!" But I couldn't look away. I took a breath, and fell into Simon's arms as the Catoblepas descended upon us.

~

I woke up. We were in the back of a very familiar car, and my headphones were neatly in my ears blasting my favourite songs. My face felt hot and sticky, and I heaved a sigh as I sat up straighter. It must have been a dream. I fell asleep in Simon's car on the way to school. Simon's dad sat in the front, and looked at me through the rear-view mirror. He looked almost identical to Simon, except his eyes were a bright forest green, and his skin was slightly more fare. I looked past the mirror and out the dashboard window. I was surprised to see it was dark out. I pulled the earphones out, and noticed Simon watching me.

"Hey."

"Is it night time?" I asked.

"Yeah." Simon nodded, putting a soft hand on my shoulder. He ran his free hand through his hair and took a sharp breath, like it hurt.

"I had a bad dream." I told him. "I don't want to get into it now - I just need to know why it's night. Did I pass out in a class? Fainting was one of the side effects of Clozapine."

"Y/N," He dropped his hand from his shoulder onto my fist that was clenched around my iPod nano. I wondered vaguely if he put it there so I wouldn't be able to get my music back on. It looked like something was wrong. I got a sick feeling in my throat. "What do you remember."

I paused. "Remember from when? I don't know when I passed out." Yet I knew. From the way he was looking at me, I knew. I hadn't passed out. But there was no way anything I remembered actually happened. I continued, trying to convince myself. "I feel feverish, it must be Clozapine. Fainting, fevers, dizziness, dry mouth, that has to be Clozapine."

My lip quivered when he opened his mouth.

"Catoblepas' have poisonous gazes. You looked one in the eyes for thirty seconds and didn't die. That's good, but even with ambrosia it's going to take a while for your system to get back on track." I pressed my thumb into my forefinger.

"Simon," I said with a shaky voice.

"I know this is hard for you to hear, and I really tried my best to keep you from finding out for a while. I'm a demigod. Do you remember what that means from english?" I noticed by the light of a lone passing car that Simon had deep gashes running along his the left side of his body; his face, arm, even a scratch on his leg.

"It means half-god, half-mortal." Simon continued. I tried to pull my iPod nano free. I didn't want to listen to this. But his right arm was strong, yet also gentle, and he kept me from moving. "You're one too. I'm the son of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. The Greek gods are real... and Roman, but we don't need to think about them now. Your dad is a Greek god, Y/N."

"This can't be real." I said flatly. Simon smiled at me again, sympathetically, like he was sorry I had to hear any of this. The car stopped, and Simon's dad turned off the engine. Simon gave him a hug from the back seat, told him to stay safe, took the iPod nano from my shaking hand, and got out of the car. When I tried to move again it felt like I was fighting through honey. My face felt hotter when Simon opened my door and helped me out.

"This is Camp Half-Blood. This is real, I can see it. It's a safe place for us, where monsters can't get it, okay. Let's go see the Apollo kids."

"Apollo kids?" I asked, then immediately wished I hadn't. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Apollo, god of medicine, healing, et cetera, et cetera..." Simon said helping me past the car towards the top of a field. "You're sick. They can help."

I stumbled with him towards what looked like an open gate that wasn't attached to a fence. It was white columned and had letters inscribed where the two columns connected at the top. "Camp Half-Blood." I read.

"Camp Half-Blood." Simon agreed. Beside it was a thick pine-tree with something gold on the lower branches, and a very scary looking lump underneath. Through the gate I could see a valley of empty farmland, but as we passed through the archway, buildings, fountains, and statues shimmered to life. I fell into Simon accidentally when it scared me. Some of my hallucinations faded away like that.

"It's real." Simon promised. Just to my left stood a forty-feet tall ivory statue emblazoned with gold, standing so tall above the trees I was surprised I hadn't seen it before. A second later, as I looked at the statue, the trees around us lit up like Christmas trees in a dark blue haze. I looked up. Above my head was a holographic sceptre, two prongs curved to form a circle, a dot balancing in the centre, and one horizontal line running through what would be its handle.

This was too much. This was all just too much. I pulled out of Simon's grasp, leaned to the right, and threw up.

"Daughter of Hades," Simon mused, then turned to me like he just realized I was being sick against a rather old tree-trunk. He helped me towards the biggest building in the valley as far as I could see - and I couldn't see very well because of how dark it was. The only light came from a large fire in the centre of what looked like little houses, and that was too far away to illuminate the tall shadow of a house we were heading towards. Simon suddenly leaned against me, pressing into my left shoulder.

"Simon?" I stopped, and Simon fell into me. "Simon!" I laid him out on the floor. He'd passed out. I looked around frantically. I didn't know where I was, I didn't know what to do. But I couldn't leave him here.

"This isn't real." I said, stumbling towards the big house. "This can't be real." I stepped up onto the wraparound porch. Inside a light glowed faintly. I pulled the old wooden door open and stepped inside. The room went bright, and I was momentarily blinded. As my eyes adjusted on a very tall man in front of me, I started to speak.

"My friend, Simon, he passed out. He's outside. He's not too far..." I saw why the man was so tall, and I took a step back. "You're a horse." I scrunched my face up, pressing my back against the nearest wall.

"Don't be alarmed," He trotted closer, and I looked away. "This will all be explained to you. My name is—"

"My mother." I slid against the wall to the floor in a mix of a dizzy spell and complete defeat. The man looked at me wearily from a withered face, his torso feeding into the body of a white stallion. "A car. A monster. A man, with the body of a horse."

"What's your name?" He tried, leaning over me. I closed my eyes, and put my head on my knees.

"The rules." I heard the sound of hurried trotting and the door open and close. "It goes against the rules."

~

I watched a movie once. Just after I'd gotten diagnosed, before my mom started monitoring what I watched on TV under Dr. Clinn's advice. It was about a man. He went on a wild adventure, with so many amazing things. Every once and a while, he'd have this dream, about men in all white who surrounded him in a small, white room. Because his life was so full of colour, he decided that his dream was his worst nightmare - a world without colour, in a confined space, where he couldn't travel or go on adventures.

In the middle of his fight against the story's bad guy, he was knocked unconscious. He woke up in the small, white room. One of the men in white stepped forward, and sat in front of the bed he was on.

"Hello, Henry," the man in white said. "I'm glad you seem quite lucid now. You are a schizophrenic. You've been in a hallucination for a month, and we couldn't snap you out of it."

I'd never been as severe as other cases of schizophrenia. I'd never had fantasies of things that didn't exist. It had always been my worst fear to end up like Henry, in the psych ward stuck in a world only he could see. Yet here I was, sitting on a cot in the infirmary in what they called the "Big House". No matter how long I closed my eyes for, when I opened them again I was still being examined by a girl only a few years older than me. I couldn't snap out of this. There was no use fighting it. I let her check me over to see what kind of damage the Catoblepas had done to me. She gave me sticky golden cakes the size of two-bite brownies - ambrosia, like Simon had said he'd given me in the car. I was feeling better, the fever had broke, but I refused to talk to anyone until they let me see Simon.

I was told he'd woken up, but in another room in this house he was talking to the horse. Chiron, the girl had called him. "Y/N?" The girl called, I looked up at her. She had blonde hair, tanned skin, and shimmering blue eyes. Daughter of Apollo, Terra was her name.

"It's about two thirty in the morning, now. I think it's best for you to rest up until six," She smiled softly at me, like a real doctor who was talking to an infant. "Caleb will meet you here, he's going to help you more than I can. And I promise, you'll see Simon then too. I'm going to go check on him now, okay?" She stood, pulling a blanked out from a set of drawers to the left of my cot. She put it, still folded, on the bed beside me, nodded, and left.

I laid down, pulled the blanket over myself, and stared at the dark wall across from me. Terra had left a small camping light on the bedside table, like a nightlight.

"Tell Samantha I love her." I jumped. Sitting up quickly, I turned to the left where Terra had once been standing, and came face to face with a forty-something year old woman. She had dyed blonde hair cut in a pixie cut, tucked neatly under a white headband. She twisted a wedding ring around her finger, and stared at me with intense dark eyes and a heavy face.

"She always said I should quit. Being a police officer was dangerous. I should have listened." I shut my eyes tight and rolled back around to face the far wall to my right, blocking my view of the woman in white, a hallucination within a fantasy. I felt in my pocket for my iPod nano. Simon had taken it.

"She knows I love her. But you're the only one who can tell her now. Tell her I love her. Tell my Sam that I love her."

Without thinking, I grabbed the camping lantern on the bedside table and threw it where the woman in white was standing. She dissolved, and the lantern hit the other wall with a thud, and broke apart when it hit the floor. I was surprised when no one came in to see what had caused the sound.

I didn't sleep that night.

~

Things only got worse when Caleb, a ginger-headed boy with freckles and a smile as bright as the sun came into the infirmary. He was wearing jeans and a bright orange shirt, like the one Terra had been wearing a few hours earlier. In his pale hand, something was rattling. He had dark green eyes that were almost distracting to look into. I threw my blanket at him.

He didn't seem too phased by this, and gently put it on one of the other cots.

"I'm Caleb," He said. "It's time for support group."

Before we made our way outside, he surprised me with what he'd been holding in his hand. A bottle of Clozapine. I didn't accept when he tried to give me a pill. Caleb wouldn't take no for an answer. After taking it, I decided that support group was like a window to the outside. There was nothing more common than group therapy in a psych ward, so these campers assembled in the chairs around me were really other patients at the hospital. We were sat in a circle in what Caleb called the amphitheater. I didn't pay much attention to the quick tour he gave me as we made out way out of the bright blue building to here.

"We have a new camper with us today." Caleb announced to the group of kids and teens, all wearing bright orange shirts identical to his own. The girl immediately to my right looked like she wasn't paying attention, and was bouncing her leg up and down like the world would stop spinning if she didn't. The boy beside her had bags under his eyes big enough to hold weekly groceries for a family of seven. The boy beside him was watching me curiously, when he say me looking he turned his face to the right like he was hiding. I didn't follow through looking at the other campers.

"Y/N, welcome to Camp Half-Blood. At six o'clock every day, I'll be waking you up to join us here at support group. It's for demigods with mental illnesses, including your own schizophrenia," that seemed to poke the hiding boy's interest in me once more, "And Abby's PTSD. Being a demigod isn't always easy, and some people can't cope. Talking helps. Getting out of bed in the morning for a clear reason helps. This group therapy, I promise, will help. It is also for grieving demigods who've lost a satyr, demi-firend, mortal-family member, et cetera. And on behalf of everyone in this circle, Y/N, we are sorry for your loss."

This time, I didn't refrain from speaking. "My loss?"

Caleb cursed. "Terra said you would have talked to Simon by now. I thought she meant last night. Er, Y/N, I'm so sorry. Your mom...She was killed before you came here."

~

I'd never hurt anyone before. I'd never wanted to, never had the thought, never had the reason. I pushed Simon into the wall beside the fire place, paying no attention to the leopard head growling at me from above the mantle. Simon, who was bigger than me, didn't try to fight me.

"Y/N!" Chiron, the horse guy, stomped his hoof. "Let go of him at once."

I pressed him harder into the wall, jaw clenched, tears rolling down his cheek. "You keep saying this is real?" I spat. "The real Simon would never force me to go to school. The real Simon wouldn't spill food on his clothes." My eyes watered. "The real Simon wouldn't let my mom die when he could do something to stop it."

I was lifted up and effortlessly placed on the horse-man's back. I didn't fight as he trotted me away, ducking to avoid the doorframe. I thought he'd stop when we got outside, but he brought me, weepy eyed and angry, to the beginnings of a dense forest. "Off," he said calmly. I complied.

I stood in front of him, and finally got a good look. Chiron had weathered skin, like he'd been around for a while - and I guess he had. This mythical man had been training the children of the gods since Greek mythology became a thing. He was wearing tweed, and because it was a warm April, I found it odd.

"You're schizophrenic." He said, his eyes sparkled with ages of knowledge.

I motioned to his white exterior, his blonde tail twitched. "I'm seeing you, so obviously."

"This will be harder on you than on most." Chiron agreed. "But while I have taught schizophrenic demigods before, you seem different. May we talk?"

"I don't have a choice." I told him.

Chiron sighed. "Y/N, I've only seen four other demigods with such an illness over my many years of teaching. I've learned a lot about it so I can accommodate for them - for you." I waited for him to continue, he looked out at the sea of trees, tall, lividly green...

"As a daughter of Hades, monsters have been following you for a while, and Simon has been protecting you. He was only trying to protect you by making you go to school, he knew a lot of monsters were on your tail, especially because of recent catastrophes... He told your mother, he didn't know she'd stop back at your house. We don't harm fellow demigods here, not outside of camp activities."

"You've dealt with other schizophrenic demigods before?" I said flatly. "How about one that knows this is all fake? My condition had steadily been getting worse, now here we are, in a mass hallucination. And I'm Henry."


	4. THREE: All The World

Pain.

Hallucinations of pain and touch are very rare in schizophrenic disorders, but 20% of patients with schizophrenia experience some sort of tactile hallucinations. I could feel the man gripping my shoulders in Simon's car on the way to school yesterday, but then again it may have just been Simon. I'd never felt pain from a hallucination before, and I did not have a very rare strand of schizophrenia.

Chiron brought me into the woods. He said each schizophrenic required a different approach to get through to. He said he didn't like his idea, but he knew for me it might be the one thing that worked - especially if I wasn't listening to Simon anymore.

"These woods are very elusive, filled with monsters, satyrs, wood nymphs - I know, but I encourage you to continue listening. Demigods fight monsters; after you fainted, Simon used quick thinking to kill the Catoblepas, which earned him his own scars."

It was very rare to feel pain from a hallucination.

I understood why Chiron didn't like his idea. We weren't too far in the forest, but he stopped in front of a tree, frowned at it, and rapped his hand against the thin, short trunk. Unfazed (it became very clear to me that nothing would make sense, I'd given up being surprised), I watched the tree slowly dissipate into a girl.

"A Dieffenbachia tree," Chiron told me, and the girl turned to face Chiron like he was the worst thing she'd ever seen. Her skin was the same colour as the bark of her tree, dark green with streaks of white. Her hair was long and bright green and tangled. "Poisonous. She'll behave around me, but if you ever enter these woods without me or a cabin councillor at any time outside of camp games, she won't be as respectful. Any wound from a Dieffenbachia nymph will not heal without a god's touch."

As a schizophrenic I never felt pain from a hallucination.

Yet when Chiron told the nymph to cut me wit her nail, and in a flash without a chance for me to step away she did, I felt the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life. In an instant, the pain stopped, but the cut just under left my elbow throbbed a sickly shade of green. The nymph stuck her tongue out before transforming back into a tree.

"Hey!" I cussed.

"Pain is real. Although I would rather not have done this to you, as it goes above everything I stand for, I trust you understand?"

"Pain is real." I repeated, looking down at my arm. I pressed my right hand against the wound and winced. It hurt when I touched it, but not when I let go. "If I think it's a hallucination, touch my arm and I'll feel the pain. Pain is real." I understood. This gash on my arm, not bleeding, just there, was the most real thing to happen to me since yesterday. "But Chiron, nothing else makes sense."

"Pain is real," Chiron smiled softly at me. He pulled something from his pocket and gingerly put it in my hand. My iPod nano. I looked down at it and heaved a heavy sigh. "I had to make sure it was safe for you to use. It is coated in celestial bronze, but more on that later. It's a beautiful piece of work." Together we walked back out of the forest. He told me to get along, go to breakfast, that someone would show me my cabin and get me some new clothes. I listened.

~

Terra, gold hair and all, bouncingly led me to cabin thirteen, on one of the tails of the "Omega", past twelve other completely dissimilar cabins shaped in a U. Cabin thirteen was made of what must have been obsidian. It had no windows, and above the door hung a large, human-like skull. It smelled like a morgue. Torches hung off heavy columns, but the fire they held was green.

"Greek fire. Good for explosives." Terra commented, pulling open the heavy iron door. Inside were three unmade bunk beds pushed up against the back wall. In the centre of the room was a five-foot high drinking horn, emblazoned with gold depictions of what could only have been Hades - from birth to sitting on his throne in the Underworld. I surprised myself by how much I retained from english, because during the mythology unit I was on Olanzapine, which made me totally space out all the time. On Olanzapine it was like my head was a huge, cotton pillow.

"The drinking horn is a symbol of Hades. That banner - that's the sign of Hades. It's what popped up over your head when you were claimed." I looked to the right and saw a dark blue/purple shimmering banner that ran from ceiling to floor, a golden sceptre shining brightly in the middle. Despite having no windows, and no fire inside the cabin, it seemed to be magically illuminated in a soft, white light. Besides a few chests that lined the right wall, the cabin was otherwise empty.

"It's April, so a lot of the campers aren't here. You have some brothers and a sister - half-siblings, I mean, but they aren't year-rounders. I guess you are one now, huh?" That was a blow to the gut. I immediately thought of something - anything else.

Terra gave me an orange T-shirt like her own, "Camp Half-Blood" scrawled above a black pegasus. She said I'd get my itinerary tomorrow, and that until then I could free-roam the camp with Simon. I scrunched my face up at his name. She didn't notice, smiled happily at me, and left.

I pressed my hand into my left arm and bit down on my lip. I still wasn't sure if I was buying into this. If I could feel pain, and the pain came from a tree nymph, the rest of this world must be real, too. But looking around, I didn't know if I could believe that. The longer I stayed here, the more real it became. Yet none of it was making sense. I changed, and instead of walking around the camp, I chose a bunk bed and laid down. It was just a mattress and a pillow without a cover, but for now it would do.

I put my earphones in, and pressed play on whatever song came up first. For the rest of the day, I laid there, listening to my music. I never heard the door open, and I jumped so hard when Simon sat down on the bed beside me that I punched him right in one of his healing arm gashes. I pulled out both earbuds.

He chocked back a sob, and instead said, "How are you?"

Simon had changed into an orange shirt to match mine; the camp uniform. I pressed my hand into my arm, and closed my eyes.

"There's nothing left to say, Simon." I told him in a small voice. How do you tell your best friend you never wanted to see them again? Alone, I couldn't push past it anymore. My mother was dead (if this was all real, that is), and he had had the chance to save her. He also had the chance to tell me about this crazy plane of existence I was now on, and maybe then I could have saved my mom myself. I thought I'd always be as loyal to Simon as he was to me. But this was inexcusable. I was better off alone.

"You didn't come for lunch." He said awkwardly, swatting a piece of blonde hair out of his face. "Y/N, listen, I was just trying to keep you safe—"

"Simon." I replied, sticking an earphone back in. "I don't know if what I'm seeing is real. Any of it. And I can't trust you any more to tell me what's there and what's not. I don't even want to grieve yet, because I don't know if it's true. I'm a schizophrenic. I'm insane." I put my other earphone in, and pressed play on the iPod nano, so I couldn't even hear the words I was saying. "You're the last person I want to see right now."

He left a few minutes later, and I resumed listening to the music, drowning out the world. A few hours later, I saw the shadow of someone walk up to my bed. I sighed.

"Simon," I said, pulling out my earphones. I stopped short. A thirty-eight year old woman in white overalls and a white shirt was staring at me through black, tight curls.

"I kept them safe. I don't mind going. They know I love them. I just wish I could have spent more time with them." The African woman had a slight accent, she pulled at a silver necklace with a butterfly dangling at the end. "I just wish I had more time."

I pressed my thumb into my forefinger, before I remembered the other thing I could do. I slammed my right palm into my poisoned cut, and watched in absolute and utter shock as the woman in white flickered out of existence.

This was it. The deciding factor. Pain was real, and when I reminded myself what was real, the hallucination disappeared. I was still in cabin thirteen.

I said it aloud, because I needed to hear it come out of my own mouth. "It's real."

~

I wasted the rest of my Saturday with my music in my ears, my head in my hands, crying.

All of this was real, so I wasn't insane. It was hard to believe that satyrs and centaurs were a thing that existed, but here they were. The brunt of the blow was my mother. I guess until I was completely sure I just hadn't let it be absolute. But now that it was, I couldn't keep the tears from falling.

My mom had worked two jobs, from eight in the evening to ten in the afternoon, everyday. She worked so hard, all for me - because I need an education, I needed medicine, I needed therapy. I only saw her when she was sleeping. We hadn't had a real conversation in such a long time, but I could so vividly recall the last one we did.

I wiped my eyes and crossed over to the door. I didn't want to recall that moment. Not now. I pulled open the door to find it was night time. I missed a whole day in what felt like a mere hours to me. The camp was asleep, like I should have been, but there was no way I was getting to sleep now. April seemed warmer in this camp somehow, I realized I didn't need a jacket (not that I had one to begin with). I closed the iron door behind me, and wandered around the camp. It was almost as dark as when I got here last night, but it must have been earlier because I could still make out the colours of the different cabins. I kept telling myself over and over again, I was ready to believe. This self-tour was me proving it.

I crossed to the ever-glowing fire pit in the centre of the cabins in the U of the Omega. I enjoyed the way it moved, the warmth and light it provided in the night, and I moved on. It sounded like a flock of birds was moving in the sky above me. I made my way past cabins one and two, which looked like twin mausoleums, and I headed towards the glittering of the ocean.

In all of this madness, I couldn't wrap my hands around the waves being so calm, so peaceful. The moon cast a silver glow above the water as it ascended higher into the sky. The closer I got, the colder the air turned as water gently lapped against the sand. The birds overhead got louder as I stepped onto the beach.

"Camper out of bed!" Something screeched. "Dinner for hungry harpies!" I looked up. Instead of birds, I came face to face with what looked like a hybrid between a dodo bird and a woman. Her rust-coloured wings ran the length of her arms, her flapping was persistent and loud. Where her hands should have been were large talons, her hair was as brown as the rest of her was, her eyes blacker than cabin thirteen. Her legs looked like they belonged to a chicken, scales replaced the feathers and wound their way around her slimy body. Above her, descending at a slower rate, were two of the very same things.

I screamed bloody murder when the first one landed in front of me, opening her mouth wide enough to show me her pearly white fangs. She reached a sharp talon out, and I shut my eyes, tight.

"Away." A voice said with such certainty my first thought was that it must be Chiron. But the voice was far too young to be the immortal horse man, and the boy standing in front of me wasn't any part horse. I watched the harpies recoil as if dazed, they flapped their wings and were off without giving me a second glance.

"Who are you?" I asked immediately, throwing my arms out. "How did you do-"

The boy stumbled back into my outstretched arms, and gently I lowered him to a laying position. "Whoa," I muttered, resting his head on my knees like some sort of very uncomfortable pillow. The moonlight hit his face just right for me to recognize him. He was the boy from my group therapy session this morning, the one who looked interested upon hearing I was a schizophrenic.

I was used to looks when people found out. Curious glances often not meant to harm, but behind the eyes the general thought was "She's insane, but she doesn't look like it". I studied his face, and furrowed my brows. He looked maybe three years older, sixteen. Curly dark brown hair framed his face, and a few freckles dotted each of his cheeks almost symmetrically. Of course, asymmetrically, he had a burn scar running the length of the right side of his face, ending just a little over his neck. His eyes snapped open, kind brown eyes. He sat up quickly when his eyes locked onto mine, standing 5'11" he turned his head slightly so most of the right side of his face was hidden in shadow.

"Are you okay?" I asked. He hesitated. "I must be a bad luck charm, you're the second person to collapse into my arms in two days." He looked over his shoulders, the harpies just vanishing out of sight beyond the woods. "Can you at least tell me what those things were?"

"Those were harpies." The boy could talk. I caught myself looking at him, trying to see the burns on his face. I bit my tongue, I was turning into those people who looked at me. I didn't want him to feel like a museum exhibit, so I averted my gaze. He talked more easily after that. "They work here at camp. Clean the dishes, hand out breakfast-" (I had no recollection of demon triplet dodo birds serving me at breakfast, Terra had brought me a bagel and we'd been off) "-and eat anyone out past curfew."

"Eat?" I questioned. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Eat the kids? At a camp full of kids?"

"Their names are Aello, Celaeno, and Ocypete. The eating thing isn't the best idea, but they do a lot for us here at camp."

"And you got them to leave because...?"

"My name is Matteo Borello." He replied. "Call me Matt. I'm a child of Hypnos, cabin fifteen. You probably haven't been introduced to the idea of demigod powers?"

"No," I agreed. "Y/N, by the way. And I only just started believing I wasn't sitting in a mental hospital somewhere." I said it almost jokingly, and had he not been in the meeting this morning I wouldn't have said anything.

It seemed to make him uncomfortable, so he pushed on. "As a Hypnos kid, I have a few special abilities. One of them is hypnosis. Using it on monsters is a lot harder than using it on other people, and using any of my powers takes a toll on me. I'm sorry I passed out, three monsters at once... Why are you awake, anyway?"

I turned back to look at the water, my previous destination. "Going for a walk. I knew that the woods were dangerous. Nobody told me I'd die if I went for a walk."

"Not sleeping, huh?" He asked almost too knowingly.

"I was sleeping," An old voice called out. I snapped to the left. A plump, ninety-something woman was standing against a white cane just beside Matt. I swallowed hard. "It happened when I was sleeping. I'm finally going home to Jonathan. I'm happy."

"Y/N?" Matt said, looking at me like Simon used to when he knew I was having a hallucination.

I kept my eyes on the old lady and reached my hand to my left arm, pressing hard into the cut on my arm. She smiled at me in her white, frilly dress as she dissipated into the air.

"Definitely not sleeping." I muttered. I realized Matt was still watching me. "You're still awake too. Don't make this out like it's all on me. How did you know I was here getting viciously attacked, anyway?"

"I was awake. Can't sleep in my cabin lately. Strange for a Hypnos kid, the god of sleep." He chuckled, but it seemed like he was very concerned. "My cabin mate doesn't seem to have a problem. I think Chiron knows what's happening, but he won't say anything. Anyway, I heard you leave. Your cabin is only two doors down, and you weren't exactly hell-bent on being quiet. Don't worry, I don't think you woke up anyone else." Matt frowned a bit when he finally met my eyes again. "I can help you get to sleep. You can't hallucinate when you sleep." I was about to ask how he could possibly have known that I just had a hallucination. Simon knew because he'd seen me have so many. Other people knew because I'd be standing there, having a conversation with thin air. I hadn't said anything to the old lady. He continued. "No nightmares, no waking up to anything but Caleb."

I groaned.

"I know," Matt smiled. "But support group helps. Even if you just sit there. Seriously, you need sleep. Hypnos powers. Let's go."

"What about you?" I asked as we started walking back to the cabins.

"I'll go to bed too." Matt promised.

I was skeptical, I didn't feel like sleeping. Not with the weight of today on my shoulders. Even while I was listening to music earlier, whenever I closed my eyes I'd see my mom. I'd remember this absurd yet seemingly real predicament I was in. Sleep wasn't accessible. He showed me that within the chests on the other side of the room were blood-red blankets and white sheets, dark black pillowcases, and surprisingly a small, cow pillow pet.

"Tradition," He told me when I questioned him about the plush thing. He didn't elaborate, and didn't say anything when I brought it into my bed with me. When he noticed my cut, Matt stopped. "Are you-"

"Don't worry about it," I told him. Matt nodded very respectfully.

"Follow my finger," Matt said, and I noticed that, however small this was, Matt wasn't as hell-bent on turning his burned face away from me. He lifted a long, spindly finger above my eyes and traced an infinity sign in the air. Back and forth, around and around, I tracked it with my eyes.

I said it without thinking. It was so disrespectful and abrupt, but as I started speaking I just couldn't stop. "Matt, what happened to your face?"

"Sleep," he said in a vague whisper. My eyes closed, and I drifted away.


	5. FOUR: I'm Only Sleeping

"Y/N," someone was knocking on my cabin door. My eyes were heavy with sleep when I tried to open them, so instead I rolled over to face the wall. I had to hold my left arm very awkwardly as to avoid applying pressure to my cut, I was so sleepy it didn't matter.

The knocking continued. "Y/N, time for support group."

"Please, don't wake me," I yelled back. I hear the door open.

"Support group isn't optional," Caleb says again from the doorway. "You come, or I'll put you on kitchen duty."

"I'm only sleeping!" I complained, pulling off the covers. "I'll get in trouble and put on kitchen duty for what? Having a good night's rest?"

A good night's rest. I smiled a small smile. Matt had done everything he promised; no nightmares, no waking up like I often did in the middle of the night, and sleep - something I didn't believe I'd be able to do. I got a sick feeling in my chest as I thought about my mom being a reason I couldn't, and walked over to Caleb waiting patiently in the doorframe for me to occupy my mind.

"Clozapine, and a schedule." Caleb grinned at me behind his bright teeth. I noted their similarity to the sun - bright, white, hurt if you stared at them too long. Did every kid here have something cheesy like that pertaining to their stupid godly parent? What about me? Were the other four schizophrenics Chiron had taught also children of Hades?

I took the Clozapine, swallowing it down dry, and I grabbed the schedule. I followed the freckled Caleb to cabin fifteen, where he knocked on the door for Matt to come out, too. As Caleb waited for an answer, I noticed the simplicity of cabin fifteen, how it was adorned with poppies, and the inside looked warm and comfy. It only succeeded in making me more tired. When he pulled open his door, he walked inside and tapped Matt on the back. He woke up promptly, and followed Caleb out.

"You went in there peacefully to wake him up, but you had to yell at me?"

"No two campers are allowed in a cabin alone. Matt has a bunkmate."

Matt stepped out of the door. I smiled shyly at him in a means to say thanks. He turned his head as if to hide his face again. Whatever progress I'd made last night had been washed away when I asked him what happened. It must have been an uncomfortable topic, I made a mental note never to bring it up again. He'd tell me if he ever wanted to, I could respect not wanting to talk.

Caleb dedicated the beginning of this meeting to giving me a crash course in Camp Half-Blood's operating system. He said he'd had a talk with Simon, and knew I spent all day inside. I waited for Matt to add that I wouldn't have slept either if he hadn't been there, but he kept quiet.

"On your first official day of camp, you have free reign to tour, join another cabin in an activity, and watch the orientation video. On the second day, today, you get your first schedule, and usually you're given a weapon of either your choosing or divine intervention."

"Usually?" I asked.

"Depending on why Caleb wakes you up and drags you to these meetings," the girl I recognized as Abby commented, "you don't get a weapon."

"As a schizophrenic, Y/N, you will not be permitted a weapon. You will also have three free blocks instead of two, as you cannot go to sword and shield, nor archery."

I frowned. "And I assume that means every time I come face-to-face with the monsters Chiron says you guys have running around the woods, I have to call for help like a damsel in distress?"

"Er, no." Caleb said quickly. "As demigods, a lot of monsters are bound to come your way. Y/N, you being a child of Hades means that a lot more monsters will be on your case. Monsters can pick up a demigod's scent, and can track them. The magical border at camp keeps us safe here, but out in the real world, you're going to need a means to defend yourself. Hand-to-hand combat."

"I'm gonna fight a monster with my fists?" Caleb frowned at me.

"As a schizophrenic, you might see things that aren't there. What if you pull a sword on a fellow demigod? In the outside world, it's more acceptable to have a weapon. Celestial bronze, the metal we forge our weapons with, can't hurt mortals. But some mortals can see through the mist, which is the vail that prevents mortals from seeing monsters, magic, and anything that's part of our world. If they can see through the mist, they can see your sword. If they can see your sword... It's a whole chain of reactions."

I didn't understand half the things he was talking about. Mist, mortals, Celestial bronze. It didn't matter. I got it, I was a flight risk. I wasn't allowed a weapon.

Moving on, Caleb talked to me about the weekly games of Capture the Flag. He said nobody from support group was permitted to play unless he said so, and whoever wasn't or was and didn't want to all met up with a special visitor in the strawberry fields. He wouldn't tell me who this visitor was. He said I'd just have to meet him.

I frowned at my schedule as I read it. Breakfast and cabin inspections were at eight o'clock, but Caleb woke us up every day at six. I figured pointing that out would get him to start another tangent about the world around us and why it was so important that we wake up this early. I kept reading. I had nine to eleven free time thanks to not being able to sword fight or shoot a bow and arrow. At eleven I had winged horseback riding with the Ares cabin, which sounded like something I wouldn't enjoy at all (I wasn't too fond of heights). It was split between two hours - one on a trail and the other for aerial assault training with a lunch break in between.

"I can fight on the back of a flying horse, but I can't have a sword?"

"Actually, you'll be practicing flying a pegasus and work your way up to a chariot, no aerial fighting for you." Caleb informed me with a smile.

One to two in the afternoon I had Mythology 101 with the Demeter and Iris cabins. Two to four was a list of activities I could choose for free time - including arts and crafts, canoe racing, and the climbing wall. Four to five was Monster Assault Techniques with the Hypnos and Nike cabins (I didn't want to assault monsters, I decided I would rather run away). Five to six was another free block, volleyball, and cabin clean-up (though I couldn't fathom why I'd have to clean up my cabin if I'd never gone back to it since morning inspections). Six to seven was a chores block, and I was scheduled in for strawberry picking with the Athena and Demeter cabins. Dinner for an hour after that. And finally, eight to nine was Sing Along and Bonfire led by the Apollo cabin. Then there was time to get ready for bed, with strict lights out by eleven.

"You get a new schedule everyday. Most things stay the same for us," Matt said as I glanced over my timetable. "But things like chores and some activities get switched around based on time slots and cabins."

"Friday is always a larger schedule," Abby added. "Capture the Flag takes up three hours, at the most."

After we moved past getting me up to speed, Caleb started the actual session like any real psychiatrist would. He asked if anyone had anything to share, and a few other demigods put their hands up and talked about a dream they had, or something that happened yesterday. A Demeter girl named Tiana, who attended support group because seeing a monster almost kill her was a little too much for her to handle, talked about making vines grow outside the camp bathrooms after a meltdown from a small water monster who just wanted to say hello.

I jumped in quickly to ask, "What kind of monster says hello instead of eating your face off or something?", to which I received, "Not all monsters are bad. Look at Chiron, or satyrs, or nymphs, or..." I desperately wished I could put my headphones in to drown Caleb out, but apparently that was 'disrespectful' and 'listening shows support'. I also noted how I had yet to see a satyr, a being I'd just learned usually brought demigods to camp. I had Simon, other people had furry goat men. Maybe one of them would have saved my mom, like Simon couldn't. I shifted in my chair.

"Y/N, anything you'd like to say?" Caleb asked me.

"Nah," I said, trying to sound nonchalant. "I just want to go back to sleep."

I earned a few chuckles from the other demigods, but Caleb wouldn't move his gaze away. "Perhaps," he continued, "you'd like to talk about the fight you and Simon had yesterday?"

I frowned. Yeah, I'd pushed him up against a wall. Yeah, a few people saw then the whole camp started talking about it. Big deal.

"This is a safe space. It helps to talk." Caleb smiled reassuringly.

"It's not good to keep secrets." I was about to yell at whoever said that. Group therapy was something that helped a lot of people, that didn't mean I owed anyone my life story. But as I snapped my head to the right to see who'd spoken, I stopped short. I took a deep breath, and slowly, trying to act as casual as possible, moved my hand towards the cut on my left arm.

"I never told them where the money was. Now they'll never find it, all because I kept a secret." The old man shrugged at me when he vanished into thin air. I spotted Matt watching me curiously. Caleb, claimed to have been trained briefly in psychology, didn't even notice my breath had hitched, but somehow Matt knew immediately that I'd just had a hallucination. I had to change the subject, so I decided I might as well waste my time answering his question.

"My mom is gone." I said simply. As the words left my mouth, I felt a weight on my chest. I kept talking. "I was told by you, Chiron, and Simon how it happened through bits and pieces. I don't know much, I don't need to know much, but what I do know is that it's his fault. For some reason, apparently Friday of all days a lot of monsters were supposed to be after me. He told my mom. He made me go to school because he thought I'd be safer there than at home. But my mom didn't know I'd gone to school - Simon didn't tell her that was part of his plan. She drove home in the middle of her shift," I choked, "to check on me. And when she got there, she was killed by a monster. Simon knew monsters were after me. Simon knew they'd be around my house." I could feel tears prick my eyes. "He didn't tell my mom that I was at school. He could have protected my mom. And if one of them had just told me that I was a freak - that my dad was a god, I could have protected my mom."

My words sat there in the silent circle for a while. I could tell Caleb was working hard to figure out what to say. I breathed out a heavy sigh. Every time I thought about it, or said something, I couldn't stop the weight pressing down on my chest. But talking about it to a group of people with their own problems, I guess that helped a little. Saying all of it, out loud, together, helped a little.

"Simon couldn't have known," Caleb began. "Just like you didn't know about this, Simon couldn't have known your mother would go back to your house."

"He withheld information," I pressed my thumb into my forefinger. My sadness was ebbing away to a very familiar anger. "From me about being a demigod, and from my mom about taking me to school. Now I can't sleep, and my mom is dead." I was breathing heavy. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I didn't know when, but I'd stood from my chair.

"You haven't been sleeping?" Caleb questioned. I looked around the circle. There were six of us in total. I wasn't sure how many demigods were in the camp currently, because it was a summer camp and a lot of people would be in school now, but I was sure this support group didn't make up a big percentage of the current population. Yet as each and every one of them stared at me, it was like the whole camp stood silently watching and waiting for my next move.

"Thanks for this session. I'm done now." For the second time, I started to walk away from the amphitheatre before a support group meeting was officially done.

"Y/N, you don't have to talk, but you can't leave!" I heard Caleb say. I kept walking. "Y/N!" I heard a chair squeak, and footsteps, but it wasn't Caleb who appeared at my side and slowed his pace so we were walking in sync.

"Matt!" Caleb whined in the distance. "Kitchen duty! Both of you!"

"Why are you following me?" I asked, and rubbed my nose on my sleeve.

Matt had skillfully come up on my right side like he was trained in the art of hiding his face. I understood why he might feel self conscious about it, but Abby had a scar on her arm that looked equally as bad, and Tiana had a month-old gash running nastily from her forehead, over her nose, and down towards her chin in a weird 'C' shape. I figured a monster had done it, and apparently the life of a demigod was focused around not dying because of a monster. If he didn't die, he should be showing off his battle scars, not hiding it.

But I didn't know what was going on in his curly-haired head, just like he didn't know what was going on in mine. I waited until we passed the armoury for him to speak.

"You shouldn't be alone." He finally said. "Personally I think you should talk to your best friend. I don't have to agree with you, but you obviously don't want to see him. You don't know anyone else here. And you were alone and almost died yesterday. You shouldn't be alone."


	6. FIVE: Broad Shouldered Beasts

The three demon triplet harpies handed handed out breakfast. Matt understood when I pushed him in front of me and asked him to get me my food. He explained the magical goblets to me, and to try them out. I asked for orange juice. The chalice complied. I was informed that at breakfast and lunch the rule wasn't so strict but was mostly followed, but at dinner it was absolute that you had to sit at your parent's table, even if you were alone. At breakfast I sat with Matt and his half-brother, Ron, who looked like he was about to fall asleep into his bowl of cereal.

"Hypnos kids, we really like sleeping." Matt shrugged.

"Why does he look like he's about to pass out, but you seem perfectly fine?"

"I like sleeping," he said, "but not all Hypnos kids sleep all the time. Ron... well Ron does."

At our first free block, Matt and I sat in the combat arena, watching the Ares, Iris, and Athena cabins fight. He didn't mind that I kept my earphones in and turned the volume up all the way. He respected my choice to tune out the world, like Simon. I couldn't help but keep thinking of him. He was my friend. My best friend. Nobody else saw that it was his fault, nobody agreed. I didn't want to believe them, but as I sat there with someone who wasn't him, someone who seemed to know me as much as he did without even trying...

Distracted by an assortment of hallucinations, I'd almost forgotten that he was in the Athena cabin. But at six o'clock when I made my way to the strawberry fields, I noticed him walk with three other Athena campers. The Demeter cabin, five campers, marched towards the strawberry fields behind me. I saw Tiana, and smiled at her. I decided now was as good a time as any to finally talk to Simon, even if the thought made me feel sick to my stomach.

I grabbed a basket from beside the strawberry fields sign. I walked over to Simon, picking strawberries a few rows away from the rest of his cabin, and nonchalantly reached over to pick one from the plant he was working on. Startled, he turned to look at me.

The scars on his face and arm were healing nicely. He had his blonde hair up in a man bun, and his light eyes searched mine to see if he should speak. I felt like punching him in the chest. I didn't.

"Hi, Simon."

"Hi, Y/N," he smiled softly, but I saw him flinch when I raised my arm. I pulled a strawberry from the plant, and dropped it into my basket. "How are you?" A question asked at every encounter between anyone, but Simon said it so genuinely I wanted to break.

"Everyone is telling me that I shouldn't blame you." I started. I felt angry. I felt sad.

"...And?"

"I don't know." I said honestly, pressing my thumb into my forefinger. After a pause, I continued. "It's just - you knew monsters were after me. You knew they'd be around my house." I could hear my voice getting louder. "You didn't tell my mom that I was at school, Simon."

I glanced at the other campers within earshot. I shouldn't be yelling in such a public place. But no one was trying to listen in, trying to hear my shouting. They didn't care. Simon looked away, I saw him clench and unclench his jaw. I yelled louder, I couldn't stop myself.

"You could have protected my mom!" I didn't stop myself from punching him that time. I hit him square in the chest, so he could feel the same weight I felt, making it harder for me to breath. He stepped back, to gain his composure. My body was shaking, my eyes swelled with tears. Every time I said it, every time I thought of it, it never got easier. It would never get easier.

I saw one of Simon's half-brothers stepping over. Simon waved him away. He took a step closer to me. "It's alright. Take it out on me."

I didn't hesitate. "If you'd said anything." Punch. "If you'd said anything," Hit. "My mom would be alive!"

He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I tried to fight him, I tried to pull away. But he was 6'3" of pure muscle, and he held on tight, even as I pounded against his chest.

"You could have saved her! You could have..." I gave in, crying into his orange shirt. He held me tighter.

"It's alright," He repeated. "Take it out on me."

I stood in his embrace, sobbing, for a while. He held me, he wouldn't let me go.

"You need someone to blame." He whispered. Simon was my best friend. He was the only one I could blame.

~

I ate dinner alone, because the other existing Hades kids were in school. I played music while I ate, I didn't have to worry about anyone trying to make conversation at the table. I thought about the things I'd learned today, notably in Mythology 101 and Monster Assault Techniques. Each monster was different, born out of a different hatred, with different strengths and different weaknesses. They targeted demigods because that's what we were; spawn of the gods whom they hated, but could not get to themselves.

I didn't want to fight monsters. I decided that very quickly. I couldn't have a weapon, and although it was made evident that some monsters could be defeated without one, I didn't want to fight monsters. Hallucinations were one thing, punching Simon was one thing. Fighting a monster who wanted to kill me because maybe my dad or his siblings pissed it off once? No thanks.

As if being alone wasn't enough, a twenty-one year old woman in white sat down at my table beside me. Every time I saw a hallucination, I'd feel my pulse quicken. Despite this, I'd gotten used to spotting them now; in all white as opposed to muted colours like before, hardly blending into the surroundings here at camp where almost everyone was in an orange t-shirt. I'd gotten used to making them go away, too. I raised a hand to press my arm, but stopped short when my music cut out. My iPod nano was in perfect working condition, no matter how prehistoric it was. I'd played this song a billion times. My iPod nano never cut out.

"I'm not supposed to be here." She said. Her voice was hoarse, like she was a smoker. I pulled my headphones out and looked at my device. The screen was black. Had it died? No, Chiron promised I could charge it in my cabin with a collected battery pack every night, and I rarely charged it because the battery held up well.

"I know that." I looked back up at the woman. She had brown hair pulled neatly into a bun, dark brown eyes and caramel skin. She was wearing a white robe, like she just came out of the shower. I pressed down on the wound and winced my eyes shut. When I opened them, the lady was still there. My breath caught in my throat.

"I can't go yet!" She replied. "I know everything! Something's wrong, you need to listen. I shouldn't know everything, I shouldn't remember anything."

I put my headphones back in, but the music wouldn't start, and no matter what button I pressed the screen wouldn't turn back on. The woman looked at me almost identical to the man in Simon's car; like I was her last hope.

Her eyes widened, like she'd seen a ghost, which was ironic. I felt someone put a hand on my shoulder. Before I looked at whoever it was, the lady whispered something that made my blood run cold, and immediately vanished afterwards. "Hades."

Simon squeezed my shoulder. "Let's go to the campfire."

I looked down at my iPod nano, display screen lit up and displaying the song I was listening to, paused. I pressed play, and followed Simon to the amphitheatre.

~

After the Apollo cabin led sing along to songs I'd never heard before, Chiron stomped his hoof and gathered the attention of the demigods roasting marshmallows.

"As most of you are aware," he bellowed, "Tomorrow is our annual visit to Mount Olympus for the year-round campers. The trucks leave at seven o'clock sharp, and cabin counsellors will inform you of which truck you will be riding on. Demigods all in the same place is dangerous, more prominently with children of the Big Three present. Chelsea, Y/N, this means you. I want all campers who are permitted to carry weapons to do so, as we don't know what you might face even on such a short journey. I expect you all to be on your best behaviour, especially in the presence of minor and major gods."

"We're going to Mount Olympus," I repeated to Simon sitting beside me. Matt was with his cabin mate on the seats in front of us. "As in, big scary powerful Greek people Mount Olympus?"

Simon fixed me with a gaze that meant 'what the hell', and then nodded. "Year rounders get to see it every year."

Chiron continued, "And to anyone intending to disobey a law of Olympus, should you be found, I guarantee a god will smite you on site."

"Big scary powerful Greek people." I muttered under my breath.

"That is all." Chiron nodded at us all, then instructed us to go back to our cabins and to sleep. Matt caught up to me as we walked back to our cabins, Simon having split to go to his.

"You made up?" He asked.

"Sort of." I admitted. We were trying.

"I just wanted to let you know you're in the same van as me tomorrow, van two."

I smiled at him, but couldn't help but think of the woman in white who wouldn't disappear. I opened my mouth, but he cut me off.

"Need help sleeping?" Matt phrased it like he was asking out of the blue, yet somehow I got the feeling that he knew I really did. I nodded.

~

At six o'clock sharp, Caleb pounded on my door like he had the day before. Begrudgingly, I sat up in bed. I knew he wouldn't go away until I came with him. I yawned, another beautifully restless sleep. I rubbed the tiredness from my eyes, and when I pulled my hands away I got startled so bad I let out a scream.

"Y/N!" Caleb called. "Are you okay?"

"Go wake up Matt!" I called through the door. "I'll be out in a second!"

"Y/N," Caleb said, but I insisted. He said he'd be back in three minutes.

I stared at the woman in white, her familiar caramel skin and dark hair and eyes. The woman from yesterday, who wouldn't go away. My rules - I never hallucinated the same thing twice. Then again, when was anything following the rules lately?

"Listen to me," The woman said. "I'm not supposed to remember."

Rules - when I knew I was hallucinating, I didn't engage with the hallucination. "Who are you?" I asked, engaging with the hallucination.

"Something's wrong down here. It's only a matter of time before your father finds me again. This is all up to you."

"What is?" I tried.

"Think about it." She said, Caleb started rapping on the door again.

"Who are you?" I repeated, quieter.

"A demigod. My name is Francine."

She disappeared as soon as Caleb opened the door. Matt watched me from behind him, knowing immediately what was up. Caleb stepped inside, despite the camp regulations he'd described to me before.

A demigod. If my hallucinations could call themselves demigods, and could refuse to vanish... Could I have been right? Could this all still be one big, stupid hallucination? My heart beat picked up speed. Pain was real, I reminded myself. But pain didn't send the woman away.

"Y/N, what's going on?" Caleb asked. "You look like you're about to-"

I rolled up my left sleeve as fast as I could, and pressed hard into the green, poisonous cut. I winced, biting on my lip to keep myself from shouting.

"Y/N!" Matt yelled, pushing past Caleb and grabbing my shoulders.

"Pain is real," I told him, face hot, heart racing, waiting to see if he disappeared. I pressed harder, until it felt like it had when the tree nymph had first scratched me.

"Y/N, this is real. This isn't a hallucination. It's okay." Matt stared at me, not bothering to turn the burn on his face away. His brown eyes locked on mine intensely. "Mom, it's okay."

I dropped my hand from clenching the wound, and looked up at him. He called me mom. I pulled out of his grasp and grabbed my iPod nano, putting the earbuds in and blasting music immediately. Caleb went to look at my cut. I shoed him away, pulled down my sleeve, and walked past them both towards the amphitheatre.

Today Caleb didn't pester me for keeping my headphones in. Before I got into van two, he tried to address my wound. I told him to talk to Chiron about it. Caleb frowned at me and climbed into the first van with the rest of his cabin. I saw Simon climb into van four. I sat beside Matt in the back of the van, and for the first five minutes on the road listened to my music. I pressed pause.

There were maybe forty year-rounder kids, about ten in each van, plus two chaperoning satyrs. I had wondered where Chiron would be when they told me he wasn't coming. "You called me mom," I said low enough that the other demigods couldn't hear. Immediately, Matt's hand flung to his face where his fingers stroked the burnt skin like he was feeling it for the first time. He dropped his hand quickly, and looked away.

My heart dropped. "You didn't get burned by a monster, did you. Did your mom do that to you?"

His kind brown eyes closed, I almost thought I saw the beginnings of tears in his eyes. He didn't answer me. I didn't pursue the topic.

~

Despite Chiron's dire warnings, we got to the Empire State Building (also, I'd been informed, the location of Mount Olympus) without a hint of a monster attack. I couldn't get past being floored by the reignited fear of this being one massive hallucination, but these were the streets of New York, the real and familiar streets of New York. It was comforting until van two's group loaded into the elevator and were all shot into the air.

The doors opened, and I pulled out my headphones. My eyes followed a white marble staircase that curled around the clouds ahead, high above Manhattan. Jutting above the tops of the clouds was the peak of a mountain covered in snow. Grasping the sides of the mountain for fear of falling to the busy streets below were numerous glittery temples. There were white marble porticos, multileveled palaces, a city of shiny white mansions that would make even the richest men shudder. Along their walls shone brasiers alit with golden fire.

There was a stone amphitheatre built vicariously on one side of the mountain. It resembled the one at camp, but was so much bigger. Statues of the gods loomed over me at every turn point. It was like a magnificently restored ancient Greek city, but more spectacular.

I caught myself subconsciously reaching to prod the wound. I took a deep breath. Pain was real. This was real. I followed Eleo - the daughter of Hephaestus and our designated tour guide - up the stairs, through the ancient and beautiful architecture. Why this fifteen year old was tour guide, I didn't know, but she seemed to know the layout of Olympus better than the oldest demigods in the group. To my dismay, Caleb caught up to Simon and I.

"Look, I let you take the morning to relax and calm down, and I even agreed not to heal your wound, for now. But you need to tell me what happened this morning."

I frowned at him. "Caleb, a good psychiatrist doesn't force his patients to tell them anything."

"Good thing I'm not old enough to be certified yet." Caleb crosses his arms, stepping in tune to me. I looked down. "And don't lie."

He was the support group leader. If I didn't say anything, he would pester me every morning about it. He would put me on kitchen duty. "My hallucination told me she was a demigod. It freaked me out, okay?" I said in a low voice. I could feel Matt watching me. "She said something was wrong. Her name was Francine."

Caleb stopped walking towards the our destination of the throne room, I stopped too. He stared at me like I'd just punched him in the chest.

"That's not funny." He said. I glanced at Matt, but he was looking down.

"What are you talk-" Caleb pushed past me roughly, and fell in line with his siblings at the front of the tour group, working our way up the mountain. Matt continued up the path, I followed beside him.

"What did I do to piss Lord McBrightSmile off?"

"Francine was a daughter of Apollo, Y/N," Matt replied as we reached a topiary not far from the biggest Greek palace on this haven. "She died on a quest a few weeks ago. I told you; support group helps, even if you just sit there. Caleb sits there."

I swallowed a lump in my throat as Eleo pointed out the closest building, towering almost as large as the Empire State Building. She explained how it was Zeus' palace, though most of his time was spent in the throne room of the gods. I didn't know how to respond to Matt. I didn't know what to say to Caleb. I was sure I'd heard him talk about a Francine before; that must have been why my hallucination was named that. But even so, there were lots of people named Francine, so he didn't have to take it so personally.

I moved to point it out to Matt, but to our left the palace of Zeus shook with voices quickly getting louder.

"It's been a week! I cannot contain the souls, brother. I cannot fix the river alone. If I admit weakness will you listen? I am asking, again, for help!"

Eleo frowned at us. "Demigods, follow me. Give the gods their privacy."

A booming voice, like rolling thunder, spoke louder. "Hades, the underworld does not concern me more than what brews on the surface. I cannot help you."

Matt reached for my arm, but it was too late - I'd heard the name.

"Don't go in!" Eleo yelled. "The gods will smite you!"

Naturally, I ran inside the temple of the biggest and most powerful god, ready to be smote. Smited? Smit? Whatever.

I found them beyond a large white marble wall, standing ten feet tall. My breath hitched.

"My daughter," Hades commented. "Perfect. You can help me."

FIRST CROSSROADS:

CHOICE ONE - "I'LL HELP HIM WITH WHATEVER HE NEEDS. AT THIS POINT, WHY NOT?"

CHOICE TWO - "UM... NO?"

CHOICE CHAPTERS/INTERACTIVE CHAPTERS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THE SAME DAY. PICK A CHOICE, AND FOLLOW IT THROUGH. CHOICE CHAPTERS ARE ALSO SHORTER THAN REGULAR CHAPTERS.


	7. SIX: Choice One

CHOICE ONE

Hades stood ten-feet tall in black silk robes that glimmered with moving faces. He looked down at me with a pursed-lipped frown, black slick hair the opposite of his porcelain skin. He had a golden braided crown adorned on his head, and though he was kind of scrawny, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me he should be calling the shots. I shook my head, that must've been a god thing, because when I looked at Zeus, equally as tall but more masculine, with a salt-and-pepper beard and stern blue eyes, I felt the same aura of power.

"Help you?" I raised an eyebrow. I didn't know what I'd just walked into, but I couldn't stop staring at him. My dad. The god of death. I heard footsteps, some demigods had followed me in to see if I was a charred Y/N-skebab.

Zeus looked at Hades and shrugged. "Problem solved."

"Thanks for all your help, brother." Hades bit. With the same hot-headedness, he turned back to me. "Y/N, there's something wrong in the Underworld. The River Lethe was poisoned on Monday. Do you know what that means?"

I heard Matt suck in a breath of air behind me, unmistakably him.

I shook my head.

Hades looked at me like I should have known. I flinched when he raised a hand. He snapped, and the room around me fell away - the white marble, Zeus, the demigods behind me, even Hades disappeared until I was alone in the middle of nothing, just blackness. I swallowed hard, and lifted my sleeve, pressing harshly into my wound.

As soon as I did, the world lit up with such intensity I had to shield my eyes before they could adjust. When I dropped the hand in front of my face, I clenched my jaw. Before me ran a milky white river, weaving through a large and open field in what I could only describe as a cavern. Dotted along the shore on either side were hundreds of poppies, red and vibrant in contrast to the white water.

"The River Lethe is the river of forgetfulness," Hades whispered in my ears. "The souls who are neither good nor bad, but neutral, drink from the Lethe before they can reside in the Fields of Asphodel. This is so they cannot remember their past life. Heroes who choose rebirth must also drink from its waters. On Monday, a demigod appeared..."

I watched a shadowy figure approach the Lethe, and open a vial no bigger than my ring finger. He poured its purplish green contents into the water, which immediately bubbled to a dirty grey colour. The poppies around the water shrivelled up and died. I wondered how such little formula could do something so drastic, but then again, Hades was my dad. Anything was possible. The figure stood, and headed towards a big obsidian palace in the distance.

"He poisoned the Lethe, and with a sword forged from four metals attacked my palace while I was distracted. I begged Zeus to assist, but that arrogant king of the gods has never helped me, and he won't."

I blinked and we were back in the marble palace of Zeus.

"The souls of Asphodel can't forget their lives, and while I try to fix my problem, they are escaping from the Underworld - despite my best defences." Hades continued. "I cannot fix the Lethe and keep the spirits at bay, so I require help. The longer this drags on, the more risk of the souls returning to loved ones. It's only a matter of time before the mortals begin to see them. You have until the twenty-first until the dead take over the living. You will help. Tomorrow morning, you will come to the Underworld armed with your best weapons, and you alone will find out what is wrong with the Lethe and fix it."

I paused, then casually stepped closer to the angry god, standing beside another angry god. "You want me to — me, alone, to — hang on, I can't do that."

"It's not a yes or no deal," Zeus said. "You must, and maybe then Hades will stop approaching me in my palace."

"If you helped from time to time, I wouldn't be here at all!" Hades turned to his brother. Zeus furrowed his brows, and I could tell they were about to brawl again.

"I'm schizophrenic," I added, and the two turned to glare at me.

"She can't go alone," I heard Caleb agree from behind me. I was surprised, after the whole Francine-incident he was the last person I expected to A) stick up for me, and B) stick up for me to not one, but two gods.

Hades waved a hand aside like he wanted the conversation to move along. "You are my child. I don't want nuisances running around the Underworld; I already have enough problems."

"Okay." I said quickly, looking up at him at a loss for words. I thought about the last few days. The hallucinations dressed in all white, I guess besides Francine they'd been going away smoothly. I was getting accustomed to my hallucinations - which was an unfamiliar concept to me. "At this point, why not. Whatever you need. You're my dad."

Hades almost smiled, but didn't. "Admirable."

Zeus nodded, but his angry expression didn't falter. "Good. Now get out of my palace. I have half a mind to cancel your pesky trips to Olympus all together."

Eleo steered us out, muttering about how bad a mood he was in because of Hades, immediately followed by a whispered "Don't smite me,".

~

"Sure? Why not?" Simon questioned incredulously as we moved on with the tour. Demigods left and right from all cabins kept glancing over. Some with admiration, others with disgust, and a few with just plain worry. Matt walked on my other side, looking deep in thought.

"I'll tell you why not!" Simon continued. "You can't use a weapon, you see hallucinations, the Underworld is a scary place that might kill you or trap you down there forever..."

"Simon," I put a hand out. My blond-headed friend continued after unclenching his jaw.

"How does he expect you to fix the River Lethe? From what you described, that must have been a strong poison to knock out that whole river - and if Hades can't fix it with a snap of a finger, what chance do you have... No offence."

"Simon," I said again. "He's my dad. He's a god."

Simon stopped me, and Matt paused too.

"So this has nothing to do with your mom?"

I'll admit, I hadn't thought about it before I'd said yes, but it had inevitably crossed my mind. I knew from the legends that people couldn't be brought back from the Underworld. Knowing my mom, even if I could, she'd tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. But if I had to go to the Underworld... What was the harm in seeing my mom, one last time? Telling her I loved her? Looking between Simon and Matt, I wondered what I should say. I settled for keeping quiet, and I followed the tour group.

~

"I told you something was off." Matt told me back in the back of the Delphi Strawberry Co. white van. "In my cabin - why I couldn't sleep. I knew it was something with the Lethe; we have a small fountain of it. It stopped flowing. I didn't know what was up..."

"And it's been like that since Monday?" I asked. He nodded. I thought it was funny how Monday had been my worst break in a while, and how it had also been a bad day in the Underworld. Then I wondered how I could possibly do something like this on my own. No weapon, I was a schizophrenic...

"Will Chiron let me go?" I asked.

Matt frowned at me. "You were given a quest from a god. Chiron won't like it, but he has no choice. I'll admit, I don't like it either. A lot of what Simon said isn't wrong. Y/N, you can't do this alone."

I frowned. He was right, of course, but what could I do about it? Hades certainly wouldn't let me die — I faltered. Like he'd let my mom die. I shook my head. That wasn't his fault. The Underworld was his domain. I could do this alone, he'd protect me. I was sure of it.

"Let's just talk to Chiron when we get back." Matt offered. I nodded, and put my headphones in.

I was almost sure of it.


	8. SIX: Choice Two

CHOICE TWO

Hades stood ten-feet tall in black silk robes that glimmered with moving faces. He looked down at me with a pursed-lipped frown, black slick hair the opposite of his porcelain skin. He had a golden braided crown adorned on his head, and though he was kind of scrawny, I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me he should be calling the shots. I shook my head, that must've been a god thing, because when I looked at Zeus, equally as tall but more masculine, with a salt-and-pepper beard and stern blue eyes, I felt the same aura of power.

"Help you?" I raised an eyebrow. I didn't know what I'd just walked into, but I couldn't stop staring at him. My dad. The god of death. I heard footsteps, some demigods had followed me in to see if I was a charred Y/N-skebab.

Zeus looked at Hades and shrugged. "Problem solved."

"Thanks for all your help, brother." Hades bit. With the same hot-headedness, he turned back to me. "Y/N, there's something wrong in the Underworld. The River Lethe was poisoned on Monday. Do you know what that means?"

I heard Matt suck in a breath of air behind me, unmistakably him.

I shook my head.

Hades looked at me like I should have known. I flinched when he raised a hand. He snapped, and the room around me fell away - the white marble, Zeus, the demigods behind me, even Hades disappeared until I was alone in the middle of nothing, just blackness. I swallowed hard, and lifted my sleeve, pressing harshly into my wound.

As soon as I did, the world lit up with such intensity I had to shield my eyes before they could adjust. When I dropped the hand in front of my face, I clenched my jaw. Before me ran a milky white river, weaving through a large and open field in what I could only describe as a cavern. Dotted along the shore on either side were hundreds of poppies, red and vibrant in contrast to the white water.

"The River Lethe is the river of forgetfulness," Hades whispered in my ears. "The souls who are neither good nor bad, but neutral, drink from the Lethe before they can reside in the Fields of Asphodel. This is so they cannot remember their past life. Heroes who choose rebirth must also drink from its waters. On Monday, a demigod appeared..."

I watched a shadowy figure approach the Lethe, and open a vial no bigger than my ring finger. He poured its purplish green contents into the water, which immediately bubbled to a dirty grey colour. The poppies around the water shrivelled up and died. I wondered how such little formula could do something so drastic, but then again, Hades was my dad. Anything was possible. The figure stood, and headed towards a big obsidian palace in the distance.

"He poisoned the Lethe, and with a sword forged from four metals attacked my palace while I was distracted. I begged Zeus to assist, but that arrogant king of the gods has never helped me, and he won't."

I blinked and we were back in the marble palace of Zeus.

"The souls of Asphodel can't forget their lives, and while I try to fix my problem, they are escaping from the Underworld - despite my best defences." Hades continued. "I cannot fix the Lethe and keep the spirits at bay, so I require help. The longer this drags on, the more risk of the souls returning to loved ones. It's only a matter of time before the mortals begin to see them. You have until the twenty-first until the dead take over the living. You will help. Tomorrow morning, you will come to the Underworld armed with your best weapons, and you alone will find out what is wrong with the Lethe and fix it."

I paused, then casually stepped closer to the angry god, standing beside another angry god. "You want me to — me, alone, to — hang on, I can't do that."

"You must," Zeus said, "and maybe then Hades will stop approaching me in my palace."

"If you helped from time to time, I wouldn't be here at all!" Hades turned to his brother. Zeus furrowed his brows, and I could tell they were about to brawl again.

"I'm schizophrenic," I added, and the two turned to glare at me.

"She can't go alone," I heard Caleb agree from behind me. I was surprised, after the whole Francine-incident he was the last person I expected to A) stick up for me, and B) stick up for me to not one, but two gods.

Hades waved a hand aside like he wanted the conversation to move along. "You are my child. I don't want nuisances running around the Underworld; I already have enough problems."

I opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't find the words. Me, a schizophrenic who wasn't allowed a weapon, was only just starting to learn about monsters, didn't know much about the Underworld or weird green-purple poisons and how to cure them...

"Um... No?" I said meekly. "I really can't do this alone."

Hades furrowed his brows, and stared at me like I'd punched him in the face - not that I could reach his face from here. I swallowed, and heard demigods behind me take an audible step back. 

"You can not say no to me." Hades replied.

I'd decided I didn't want to fight monsters. Now? Now I was deciding I didn't want to fight gods. As I stared at him, I felt a familiar weight on my chest. I hadn't yet put two and two together. Hades, the god of the Underworld, the ruler of death. My mom. I knew from the legends that people couldn't be brought back from the Underworld. Knowing my mom, even if I could, she'd tell me it wasn't the right thing to do. But if I had to go to the Underworld... What was the harm in seeing my mom, one last time? Telling her I loved her?

"Okay." I said. Hades set his jaw, and nodded at me.

Zeus nodded, but his angry expression didn't falter. "Good. Now get out of my palace. I have half a mind to cancel your pesky trips to Olympus all together."

Eleo steered us out, muttering about how bad a mood he was in because of Hades, immediately followed by a whispered "Don't smite me,".

~

"I told you something was off." Matt told me immediately as we continued the tour. "In my cabin - why I couldn't sleep. I knew it was something with the Lethe; we have a small fountain of it. It stopped flowing. I didn't know what was up..."

"And it's been like that since Monday?" I asked. He nodded. I thought it was funny how Monday had been my worst break in a while, and how it had also been a bad day in the Underworld. Then I wondered how I could possibly do something like this on my own. No weapon, I was a schizophrenic...

Simon caught up to us. "You can't go on this quest alone."

I sighed. "I know."

Simon frowned at me. Matt frowned at me. What were we going to do?

"Will Chiron let me go?" I asked.

"You were given a quest from a god." Simon said. "Chiron won't like it, but he has no choice."

"I'll admit, I don't like it either" Matt agreed.

I thought hard. Hades certainly wouldn't let me die — I faltered. Like he'd let my mom die. I shook my head. That wasn't his fault. The Underworld was his domain. I could do this alone, he'd protect me. I was sure of it.

"Let's just talk to Chiron when we get back." Matt offered. I nodded, and put my headphones in. We made our way back to the white Delphi Strawberry co. vans.

I was almost sure of it.


	9. SEVEN: Why Did You Go A Place?

Chiron was about as thrilled as could be expected when the first thing out of Eleo's mouth was, "New demigod got herself a solo quest."

He pulled Eleo, Caleb, Simon, Matt and I into the Big House around a ping pong table. This was, apparently, where the cabin counsellors met, but was now a closed meeting with the most important people of today. Man, I really wish I wasn't part of this group.

Eleo explained the inciting incident. Caleb went on to comment how Hades snapped his fingers and I went into a three-minute long trance. I continued with what I saw in said trance. Simon and Matt argued that I couldn't go alone. We looked at Chiron, waiting for a solution.

Chiron, in a wheelchair (don't ask, he was in it when I got there and I was beyond questioning it), put a wrinkly hand to his forehead.

"I don't like this,"

"None of us do," we chorused, even Eleo.

Chiron frowned. "Alas, I cannot argue with the gods. Your father himself designated this quest for you, and it would be unwise to go against him. But as your mentor, I also cannot allow Y/N to do something dangerous unarmed and with her current predicament."

"So...?" I asked, curiously.

He looked at me. "Take one demigod with you. Should Hades get angry, I will personally take the punishment."

"No way," Eleo budded in. "Chiron what if he fires you from camp? I heard stories about what happened last time."

Chiron put a hand up. I wanted to ask what they were talking about. "That was under different circumstance. I don't think it will happen again. Y/N, take one person on the quest with you. Leave with Argus tomorrow morning, he will take you to the entrance of the Underworld. It is my understanding that upon finding the River Lethe, you must collect a sample and return to camp. We can try and determine the poison and how to cure it."

I nodded. I could take a person. That made me feel a little better about going to an unfamiliar place that was supposedly very dangerous. The meeting was adjourned shortly after. As I turned to leave the Big House, I heard Eleo say to Chiron, "It was poison that cost you your place here last time, too."

I made my way towards cabin thirteen. Simon and Matt in tandem stopped me.

"Take me." Simon said. "I know everything about the Underworld. I can protect you. If you have hallucinations I've got your back." Taking Simon made sense. A lot of sense. Matt looked like he wanted to say something. He turned his face away from me and kept quiet. I though about how much I'd hated Simon lately, and how we were slowly working through it. I nodded.

After going a whole day without hallucinations (which was a record for me; maybe Olympus magic had kept me from seeing them?) I figured I'd have no problem getting to sleep on my own tonight. Besides, depending on how this went, I wasn't sure I'd be back at camp tomorrow night. If I had to sleep in the Underworld, I needed to know I could do it without nightmares; without needing Matt there.

Of course, I was horribly wrong.

I'd gotten to sleep no problem. After the long day I had, I'd been exhausted. I put my headphones in and passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow. But I had a dream. Not really a nightmare, but it wasn't happy-go-lucky either. I wished I'd let Matt use his Hypnos magic - then I wouldn't be dreaming. I wouldn't see my mother, smiling at me. It was her from a memory, back at home when she was between jobs and had extra time to spend at home with me. All this thinking of going to the Underworld, seeing her... I wasn't ready to let go.

"Why did you have to go?" I asked.

She put a plate of stacked pancakes in front of me, a candle stuck haphazardly on top. It was my birthday. She looked down at me, she wanted to say she was fine. She whispered, "Darling, it will be alright."

"Why did you have to go to a place where I couldn't follow?"

I heard Caleb pounding the door outside. I tried desperately to stay asleep. I'd only see her in my dreams. There was no guarantee I'd find her in the Underworld. There was no guarantee she'd even made it there - what if her soul hadn't been ferried over? What if she was among the heroes, because to me she was one?

I woke up with red and teary eyes. The weight on my chest didn't lift, even when Caleb opened the door to pull me to support group. I took a breath, and followed him out. At support group, Caleb handed me an "Official camp questing backpack," full of nectar, ambrosia, drachma, granola bars ("Don't eat anything down there, you know what happened to Persephone"), a change of clothes, a bedroll, and a water bottle. Matt looked at me from his chair like he could tell something was up. This time, I hid my face from him.

Everyone in support group congratulated me, wished me luck. Some genuine, others looked like Caleb had forced them. Caleb ensured I took my medication, and promised to give it to Simon. Per usual, I didn't say much during the meeting, but I stayed to the end of it. Matt asked if I was okay. I nodded. He asked if I was ready for my quest. I nodded. He asked if I was lying. I nodded. Matt walked me to breakfast, where I kept my headphones in and my gaze at my bowl of cereal. Simon had a matching backpack and a sword strapped to his side when he met me there.

I made up my mind rather quickly. Whether it was out of desperation or genuine tactic, I wasn't sure. But I knew I needed his help more than I needed my best friend right now.

"Matt," I said, pulling my headphones out. "Come with me."

Both boys seemed taken aback.

"What?" Simon asked incredulously. "Chiron said only two people on this quest. We can't have Matt come along too. That'll make your dad even more pissed."

I pressed my finger into my thumb. "I'm sorry, Simon." Simon looked at me, utterly defeated. He dropped the backpack from his shoulders.

~

Argus had blonde hair, pale skin, and about a billion baby blue eyes covering him head to toe. Simon didn't seem to happy about it, but he pulled Matt aside and told him a lot of the plan that I assumed he would have told me in the van. All I knew thus far was that there was an entrance to the Underworld in Central Park, and that's where we were heading. I wasn't sure what else Simon had come up with. I wasn't sure why he was telling Matt and not both of us.

When Matt climbed into the van beside me and the campers waved us away, he turned to me.

"Last night?" He asked.

"How do you know?" I asked quickly. "Whenever something bad happens - you know. And you know that last night I must've had a bad dream. How do you know?"

That familiar abandon in his eyes and the way his arm stiffened to keep himself from lifting it to his face led to a small and short explanation. "I have some knowledge of this stuff. Don't worry, I'll help you sleep."

I nodded. He didn't seem very chatty this morning. I put my headphones in again.

~

Argus dropped us off and gave us a closed-lip smile. I was sure it was because he was hiding an eye on his tongue, but I could never be sure. I tightened the backpack on my shoulders, and swallowed hard when Matt and I walked over to the Door ofOrpheus.

This was all happening so fast. Too fast. I needed to sit down. That dream had shaken me up. If seeing my mom did that to me in a dream, I wondered what would happen if I actually saw her down there.

Why did she have to go?

Matt pulled me from my revere. I looked at him curiously. His mom had done that to him, had burned his face somehow. I didn't know much about her, but from that alone it seemed like my mom was the complete opposite. She'd never in a million years do something like that to me. She worked so hard just to keep me on track for my medication, to pay the bills, to get food on the table. She wasn't a fighter - and I guess neither was I. But I was here, getting ready to fight.

"Are you ready?" Matt asked me again.

Argus had dropped us off just north of the pond. As I looked at the large pile of rocks, our way in, I faltered. With perfect timing, I watched a man in a white track suit lock eyes with me, then the door, then run in the opposite direction. He disappeared when I pressed my hand to my cut. Matt glanced at me.

I took a deep breath. "You said the Door ofOrpheus needed music to open, right?" I pulled my headphones from the iPod nano, and pressed play. Skeptically, I held the iPod nano close to the clump of rocks, and watched with bated breath as the rocks pulled away on themselves, pushing back to reveal an entrance.

Suddenly I felt guilty. What if by taking Matt with me, Chiron really did get in trouble? What if Chiron really did get fired? Eleo, muscular as she was, would no doubt fight for him, but who else would lead the camp? Either way, I knew I couldn't do this alone.

I looked at Matt, and took a step inside the door. He followed close behind me, until we were fully submerged in black. For a fleeting moment I was scared there'd be no end to this tunnel, but then I caught sight of an eery light on the other side.

The Underworld was huge. The roof of the cavern was almost too high up to see, hidden behind a layer of fog almost mimicking clouds. Spread in front of me were three very different, very clear sections of land. The Fields of Punishment being the closest, next to what must have been the Fields of Asphodel, and further away the cheery Fields of Elysium. To my immediate right, a thick and tall black wall wound its way to an opening and a line of dead people too far away for me to see. The line separated into three after Cerberus, marching towards the different fields after a pit stop at the judging pavilion for two of the lines. I watched all the blurry people, and couldn't help but wonder if my mom was among them.

"Lethe," Matt pointed. I followed his finger to see it, the dirty grey river weaved its way through the Fields of Asphodel, which not only meant we'd have to cross through the very large (and very scary) Fields of Punishment - but we'd have to do it twice.

I was very familiar with the Underworld. It was a combination of the mythology lesson in English at school, Mythology 101 at camp, and, I suppose, me being a child of the god who sired over it. That being said, I only knew two of the five rivers that ran through the place; the Lethe, and the Styx. Running through the Fields of Punishment and flowing down a gaping hole (also scary), a startling blue river almost twenty feet across roared to life.

"And that?" I asked. It looked like we'd have to cross it to get to our destination, and I didn't see a boat. Or a bridge.

Matt shivered. "Looks like the River Acheron. Souls in the Fields of Punishment that aren't delegated their own specific punishment are damned to the Acheron. Souls that aren't completely evil, but went to trial and didn't get to the Fields of Elysium."

"That'll be fun to cross." I said, fastening the straps on my backpack.

"The whole field will be fun." Matt added.

The Underworld was ever expanding. As more people died, it grew larger. I couldn't image the Field of Punishment thirty years ago, but now? It would take hours for us to cross it, and who knows how much of that time would be spent trying to figure out how to get over the Acheron.

~

The Fields of Punishment were brutal. A man in a too-revealing loincloth was pushing a boulder up a hill. A string of women in brown tunics were kneeling beside a freshwater stream, trying to fill jars with holes. The dress code here seemed to be dark clothes, or barely any clothes at all. I shuddered at every scream. When people tried to talk to me, I flinched. Every time I turned, I was worried I wouldn't see a soul there, but a hallucination. I couldn't tell what was worse, all I knew was that walking past these prisoners, these damned souls... I was on edge.

A few called out for me. "Child of Hades! Child of Hades! Set me free!" I wanted to be anywhere but here. I pressed my forefinger into my thumb and held it there. Each area of punishment, separated by thin lava streams, held its own rough terrain, its own prisoner, its own punishment. About two hours of walking later, I stopped, and turned to Matt.

Matt looked at me. I hadn't really noticed it before, but now that he wasn't smiling it was obvious to me that I missed its presence. His face seemed weird without it. "Are you okay?" He asked.

I paused for a beat. "What's your favourite food?" I asked him.

He furrowed his brows. "What?"

I started walking again. "All we know about each other is that we're in support group, and who our godly parents are. You know that I'm a schizophrenic, when I hallucinate, when something's wrong. I don't know why you go to support group, but I know it has something to do with your... Never mind. See? Don't want to talk about that. But we can learn other things about each other. I like pizza. Pizza is my favourite food."

Matt's smile returned briefly. "Pumpkin pie. But don't be skimpy, it has to have cinnamon on it."

A scream of pain to our left. A roar of outrage from our right. Ignoring it, we marched on.

"What's your fatal flaw?" Matt asked. I laughed.

"I was gonna ask something like: What's your favourite book? That works, too." Matt grinned. I continued, "I'm not sure. I guess... Maybe my fatal flaw is that I hold grudges. Maybe my fatal flaw is my schizophrenia. Maybe my fatal flaw is trusting people who like pumpkin pie. Maybe—"

"I get it." Matt put a hand up, smiling. "You don't know. Mine's family. It's really important to me."

I've found that people sometime ask certain questions just so that they can answer them. Family. His mom. I wondered if he was giving me hints about what happened. I couldn't be sure. I knew it wasn't up for discussion.

Questions kept our minds occupied and our attention away from the spirits around us. Every few hours, I'd catch a glimpse of a hallucination. But it was odd. As opposed to appearing nearby, I saw them running past me, seemingly towards the Door ofOrpheus. Fitting; even my hallucinations didn't want to be here. I guess that made it slightly easier on my psyche, but even still, it was weird.

I was surprised by how long this was taking us. It was no doubt that the Fields of Punishment were huge, and I'd certainly lost track of time, but this felt ridiculous. Irrationally, I wondered if I was actually being punished, eternity walking around in search of an exit I could never find. I shuddered.

"Hey, Y/N," Matt said in between conversations. "Another quick question: where are we?"

I paused. "I don't know, why would I know?"

"You're the daughter of the ruler of the Underworld. I thought you were leading us."

"I thought I was following you." That was my answer on why it was taking so long. "We've been going straight, right?"

"Except the detour around Sisyphus' mountain." Matt said, eyes wide to scan around us, trying to spot it.

"And then again beside that pool with the tree..." I added. Great. My first quest was turning out fantastic. I imagined if I'd been here alone. No one to talk to. No one to partially blame for getting lost (it wasn't all me).

"Pick a direction." Matt said suddenly.

"A direction?"

"It's your quest. A direction. Maybe something will guide you the right way."

"A direction." I agreed. Whatever I decided, we would go that way. I couldn't be wrong. I took a deep breath. "I have a good feeling about there," I pointed a little left from the direction we were on now. We started walking again.

"We're idiots." I commented fifteen minutes later, when we had the baby blue stream in sight. "We're goddamn idiots. Who knows how fast we could how found this if we were traveling in the right direction the whole time?"

Matt shrugged. "We still have a long way to go after we cross it."

At least we'd found it. Now nothing else could go wrong.


	10. EIGHT: Trouble

Something else went wrong.

The Acheron held the souls that weren't worth individual punishments, sure. They screamed and wailed just like the other prisoners here. It only got worse as we approached.

It was the rhythm of the waves that captivated me at first. The waves hit the barren land it passed through as if the two were at war; harsh, brutal and unforgiving. It was almost hypnotic to watch. In fact, it was. The current pulled souls back and forth, up stream, far away. They grabbed at the air for an escape they could never find. And they screamed.

At first it was just that - pure screaming. But thousands of voices began to isolate themselves into dozens, then several, until I could hear each individual voice crying out at me.

"It's not Simon's fault." Cried one. I furrowed my brows.

"You're mother died!" Laughed another.

Each comment sent a spear through my heart. They couldn't know anything about this. Not damned here for eternity. Yet, they continued with absolute certainty.

"It's you. You're the stronger half-blood. The more powerful scent. You led the monsters right to her!"

They couldn't know.

"Yes we can!" One cackled, bringing me from my disbelief.

"We know because she's drowning with us."

I felt the ground hit my knees, but nothing around me seemed real except the water. The fast, interchanging blue current. The world was a blur. I tried desperately to look at their faces. My mom - no. She wasn't a bad person. She was kind, and did everything out of love for me. She wouldn't end up here.

Before me, images of her flooded through, superimposed upon the waves. My first few sessions with Dr. Clinn. I was in the waiting room, but I remember sneaking past the secretary to the door, to see if they were talking about how insane I was. The sun was pushing through the window of the office, casting shadows under the door. I heard my mom's shaky breath.

"I can't afford this,"

"I know." Dr. Clinn said. "But your daughter needs regular visits. It's important for her mental health that she has a trained professional to talk to."

"I know." My mom paused. "I'll make some calls. Is it okay if the first payment comes a little late? I just...Need to get some jobs in order."

That was around the time my mom's social life disappeared. She made the calls to friends, seeing if they could get her a job at their work - part time if it didn't pay well enough. On Fridays when she'd usually be out with her friends for a 'girls night' at the bar, she spent behind the counter, pouring drinks for customers.

She worked so hard. She gave up so much. For me. And I'd doomed her.

"You let her die. You put her here." A voice called quietly.

"But you can fix it." Whispered another, almost sympathetically.

"Jump in."

"No rest for the wicked."

"Jump in."

"Do it for love."

"Jump in."

I'll admit, I had almost headed their requests. The only thing that shook me out of it was when the world around me shot into focus because I heard Matt yell to my left. It snapped me out of my trance almost immediately, I was suddenly ten feet away from the edge of the roaring river, and the voices of the souls cut away to the unified screaming.

It took me a second to realize that the souls weren't just whispering to me, but that Matt was caught in their trance now, too, still kneeling at the water's edge. All I wanted to do was get away, curl up in a ball. The Underworld was not somewhere I wanted to be, especially not now. But there was so much to lose - if I ran away, the souls would continue escaping onto the streets of New York in search of their loved ones. The mortals would see them, and who knows what would happen then? My dad wouldn't be happy. Chiron might lose his job because of me. Worst yet, Matt would jump into the Acheron.

I couldn't run now.

But I was frozen. If I got closer to the raging waves, the poisonous souls... I couldn't hear any of that again. I couldn't hear any of that again because a lot of it was true. Gods, don't let me lose my mind. I moved to Matt's side.

"Matt!" I called, hoping my voice would draw him from the trance as his had done for me. His eyes didn't waver away from the waves. At first it appeared that the souls weren't interested in me. Of course, that was quickly changed when they started calling for me again. I tried to ignore it, to focus on Matt's face. He was gripping his burnt skin as if it was new, his breathing was laboured, his eyes were welling up with tears.

"Matt, it's me." I tried.

"Jump in," the Acheron whispered. I made the mistake of glancing at the waves. My mom was there - memories of her, anyway. Smiling. Laughing. Crying. Begging me to join her. Matt stood, and drew my gaze away.

Looking back on it, maybe I should have body checked him. If I knocked him to the ground, maybe it'd pull him back to real life and we'd figure out how to get around the river without getting close to it. If I'd body checked him, maybe I'd save myself some sanity.

Obviously that's not what happened. I've been facing trouble almost all my life, why would it stop in a trouble powerhouse.

To my left, the spirits screamed about my mother. Matt was getting ready to take the worst bath of his life. I screamed, a prolonged, guttural cry I didn't know I was capable of making.

"STOP!"

And they did.

Everything did.

The souls stopped wailing, throughout all of the Fields of Punishment. The Acheron slowed to a halt until the water was almost completely calm. Matt, shaking, rubbed his eyes, and looked at me. I took a deep breath as I helped him away from the shore, waiting for something to happen. The Underworld, in it's vast entirety, was completely silent.

It didn't last long. As soon as Matt and I collapsed to the ground, sitting side by side and holding our backpacks like pillow pets, the Underworlds roared back to life. Screaming, wailing, and pleading for the child of Hades to help them, the souls continued their punishments, the Acheron kept flowing.

For a minute, we just sat there. I felt light headed. I couldn't tell if it was because of what just happened, or if it was because I couldn't stop thinking about my mom. I pushed past it.

"Matt, are you okay?"

He looked at me, and swallowed, like he wasn't seeing me, but instead a ghost. He looked away. "I'm okay. Let's... Let's go."

"Go where?" I asked miserably. "There's no bridge. The Acheron goes all the way through the Fields of Punishment and then disappears down a really big hole."

Matt locked his brown eyes on me once more. "I didn't want to bring this up." He really did look sorry about it, but he continued. "Demigods sometimes have powers, like I do. Sometimes children of Hades get certain powers, for example: Shadow travel. I've heard from Angeline - one of your half-sisters - that it's not pleasant. Moreover it takes a lot of energy to do. As a schizophrenic, I thought it probably wasn't a good idea for you to try. But Y/N, you halted the Underworld. I've never heard of that being done. And you did it with your voice. You're powerful. I think... I think it's our only way out of the Fields of Punishment."

~

Shadow travel. That sounded pleasant. Here's where the sanity disappeared, in case you were wondering. Matt didn't know how this worked, and of course neither did I. We started by finding shade in the tree of someone's punishment. I'd asked if he could hypnotize me to suddenly know how to do it. He said it didn't work that way, and besides he never used his hypnotics powers on friends; only enemies. Holding hands, I had my eyes closed.

"Maybe think about the other side of the Acheron. We don't need to clear the Field completely, but we need to get over that."

"Right." I replied, followed by, "It's not working."

Matt sighed. "Um... Hmm... How about..." I opened my eyes. Matt looked like he had an idea. "When I use my powers, it's like a feeling in the pit of my stomach. It makes me exhausted, sometimes dizzy, sometimes—"

"Lightheaded?" I asked. He nodded. "When I shouted, when I made everything stop, I think I felt that. But what do I do? Just focus on how it felt?"

"I don't know." Matt reminded me. "Try?"

I closed my eyes again, and tried to focus. I thought it would instantly teleport us wherever I willed to be taken. Instead, it was more like a tunnel of darkness, similar to the Door of Orpheus, except so much worse. It was like I was moving in hyper speed, like my face was being peeled off. I didn't know what Matt was experiencing; if it was the same for him or not. At times I felt like his hand was falling from mine, I gripped it tighter.

Suddenly I was running, kicking out of the darkness and onto the rock hard ground of the Underworld, dragging Matt behind me. It took me a minute to realize what had happened, and instead of stoping my run I very gracefully (read: awkwardly) tripped over my own feet and face planted into the hard ground. Matt, fortunately, had released my hand and spared himself the fall.

I realized rather quickly that Matt saying "It takes a lot of energy to do" was not an over exaggeration. Again I felt light-headed, and kind of nauseous. Matt helped me sit up.

"I'm surprised you didn't pass out," He told me.

I was incredibly wiped, the last thing I wanted to do was keep moving. The Acheron was to our right, about feet feet away and hidden by some land forms and catapults belonging to prisoners of the Fields of Punishment. We'd made it across, and we were more or less unscathed physically.

"Let's set up camp." I suggested. "We've both had another traumatic experience in our lives."

"You heard the voices too?" Matt asked. I realized we'd probably both gone into a trance around the same time, and when he came out of it it was because I was pulling the Underworld to a halt. We started pulling out our bed rolls.

I nodded. "They were talking about my mom. Saying she was in the Acheron. That it was my fault she was there." I swallowed, focusing my attention on setting up my sleeping bag (much to the dismay of the prisoner's section we were in - he was a forty-year old strapped to an ancient torture device that slapped him whenever he started to nod off). "Then they told me it wasn't Simon's fault; it was mine. I get that they were just saying that to get me to jump in, but... They aren't wrong. Being a child of Hades, I would have a stronger scent. And whether he told my mom or not, the monsters went to my house because of me."

"Hey," Matt said, setting his bed up next to mine. "It's really not your fault. Nobody could have known. Sometimes, these things just happen. We're demigods, we can't do much about it."

I thought about how he looked at me back on the bank of the Acheron - like he was looking at a ghost. I'd been holding back asking, but now seemed to be the best time to bring it up. "Matt, what did you see? I could tell it was something about me. And I think it had something to do with what happened to you. I don't want to force you into talking, but..."

He looked away, casting shadows over his freckles. "No, you're right. You deserve to know. I was born in Louisiana. My mom had been battling psychosis before Hypnos showed up, but after accidentally got pregnant with me and I was born... That's when things got a whole lot worse." I could tell this was difficult for him to talk about. The way he wouldn't meet my eyes, how he kept pausing as if making sure each word he was about to say wouldn't make him break into tears. I wanted to comfort him. I didn't know how.

"Hypnos stayed with us longer than gods are supposed to. Even so, he couldn't be there every day. I... I was six. Me and my mom were home alone. I was in the living room, playing and watching the TV. I heard her talking, louder than normal. I was scared that someone had broken into the kitchen, or something like that. I ran into the kitchen, but she was alone, talking to herself over the stove. I think she was trying to make pasta for lunch, a pot of boiling water was shaking over the burner." Matt hesitated. I was sure I saw his eyes swell with tears.

"I called to her. When she turned around, it was like she was looking right through me. She didn't know who I was. She..." He took a shaky breath, finally meeting my eyes.

"She threw the boiling water at you." I finished for him. He nodded. I watched him put a hand to the right side of his face, where the burn scars started and extended a little down his neck.

"Hypnos took her to a hospital. They diagnosed her with... Anyway, I was put into the custody of Hypnos. But because he's a god, he couldn't stay long. When I turned seven, I was put into the foster system. I didn't hate the system, but I sure as hell didn't like it. The kids called me ugly, and made fun of my burn scar. Sometimes, when it got really bad, I wore a paper bag on my head. Don't get me wrong. I don't hate my mother, but I felt sorry for her. It wasn't her fault, not really."

I put two and two together, and looked away. "That's why you look after me. Why you know when something's up. Why you help me sleep. She had schizophrenia, didn't she? And now you feel sorry for me."

Matt looked at me. "I don't feel sorry for you. I feel angry for you. No one deserves to have something so strenuous on their shoulders. Something so dangerous. But... Well, I guess you're right. I help you because I can, and I know how to. It's like I'm helping my mom. I know that's probably not what you want to hear."

I brushed it off with a shake of my hand. "I'm just glad I know now. Thank you for telling me. Did you ever get adopted?"

Matt's usual ever-present smile returned. "I was thirteen. Adopted my Maxwell and Fiona Turner after they fostered me for a year. They're amazing. They let me keep my birth surname, they took care of me, and they never looked at me like I was a freak. When I was fourteen I told them I was a demigod. Hypnos showed up and we explained how this world exists, they understood, and they supported my decision to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round. By being at camp, I could be surrounded by other demigods, and I could finally find out more about myself."

"I guess I'll be stuck with you year-round now, too." I said, accidentally putting a damper on the conversation (that happened quite often).

"Hey, Y/N?" Matt said. "Do you still have your iPod?"

I pulled it out of my backpack.

"Good. Put your headphones in and press play. I'll wake you up when it's your shift to keep look out." I tried to fight him, even though I was tired. "Put them in. You don't have to indulge me anymore, I know you've been itching to put it at full blast since we got here. It's okay."

I complied, and very soon he'd helped me get to a dreamless, and much-needed sleep.


	11. NINE: Lost It All

Matt shook me awake a while later. I pulled out my headphones, and watched him pull something from his backpack, a water bottle and an oddly familiar bottle in his hand.

"I got Caleb to give me your Clozapine when you asked me to go instead of Simon. He was hesitant, because it's sort of against the rules for anyone in support group to have medication on their person, but he allowed it. Even in the Underworld, you have to take your meds."

I frowned. It wasn't like they'd been helping since I got them, though I suppose since I got to the Underworld the hallucination had been few and far between... But I figured that was for the same reason they were non-existent on Olympu. Nonetheless, I took the pill and chased it down with water. Matt seemed satisfied.

"Okay," I said. "Your turn to sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours, then we'll start for the Fields of Asphodel."

Matt looked at me, and shook his head. "I'm okay. We need to go."

"Um... No." I said. He was obviously exhausted, and he needed sleep just as much as I did. "Matt, you can't tell me you're not tired."

"I accidentally fell asleep when I was supposed to be on watch, I'm fine." He said quickly. I furrowed my brows, but as I opened my mouth he'd already moved on. "Besides, we don't have time. It's gotta be at least Wednesday now, the eighteenth. If it took us so long to reach the Acheron in the middle of the Fields of Punishment, it's going to take time to get to the Fields of Asphodel and then all the way bak. Factor in recovery time from shadow travelling again..."

I shuddered at the thought of shadow travelling again any time soon. "Okay. I get it. This would be a whole lot easier if Hades gave us some sort of help. He is, you know, my dad."

It was said as an empty statement. I didn't think Hades would hear, much less respond. The ground shook below us like a mini earthquake. Startled, I turned to face Matt. It seemed to take him a second longer to realize what was happening, all the while the souls around us were screaming more frantically. Then I saw a soul in the next section over dive into his flaming fire pool, charring him black. Whatever was coming was enough to scare him into willingly being punished.

Then, it came into view. A silver chariot emblazoned with Greek depictions of death make the ground quake underneath it. It rolled over the lava streams that separated the sections like there was no break in the ground whatsoever, and it pulsed with black light like energy. It was pulled by two very large, very scary skeleton horses. They fixed me with red, glowing eyes, and were wearing black feathery plumes on their heads.

Inside the chariot was what appeared to be a Roman soldier. He had a helmet on, gold shoulder plates and body armour, a red woollen tunic, and was holding a javelin in the had he wasn't using to hold the horses' reins. The charioteer pulled the horses to a halt in front of us. He moved big, muscular arms (that were slightly transparent, allowing a view of the inner workings of an arm that I did not need to see) to lift off his - no, her helmet. She looked at me behind translucent skin, and after a moment she stepped down off the silver chariot.

"You asked for help?" She asked in a gravelly voice, pulling whisky tendrils of brown hair from the bun that was previously hiding in her helmet.

"Um... Hi." I offered. "Didn't really expect my dad to answer."

She blinked. "I did not answer to Lord Hades. I answered to you, m'lady."

Matt, very confused, looked at me for some sort of explanation. Then his expression softened as he came to a conclusion. "Oh. Just like when you yelled 'stop'. Y/N, you have control over the Underworld, and apparently a legionary on Hades' elite guard."

I paused. Okay, so I could stop the Underworld for ten seconds at a time, and I had a dead chauffeur. I noted the javelin; a dead chauffeur and fighter. That was actually pretty helpful.

"Get in, demigods." The Legionary instructed. "I will bring you where you seek."

Matt and I scrambled to get our sleeping bags and bed rolls into our backpacks. I took my stand in the chariot to the right of the Legionary, feeling an awkward calm beside her. Like her muscly arms and javelin could protect me from anything.

"What's your name?" I asked. It seemed like an innocent question, but she looked at me with wide brown eyes. I swallowed. Those big, beefy arms might also be good for strangling me. I put my hands up, "Unless you don't want to answer, that's totally fine."

She dipped her head. "My apologies, m'lady." She looked back up at me. "I am just stunned. Lord Hades does not stop to ask for names. I am Fabia Paulina, daughter the praetor Quintus Fabius Maximus."

"Well, Fabia," Matt climbed into the chariot beside me. "Take us to the Fields of Asphodel."

She didn't move. Matt and I locked eyes.

"Fabia?" I tried, she nodded at me.

"Yes, m'lady?"

"Take us to the Fields of Asphodel?"

Fabia lifted her helmet over her head, tightened her grip on the reins, and the horses started running.

"Guess she doesn't like you." I shrugged to Matt. We gripped on tight as the chariot sped up. Where the souls had previously screamed my name and begged for my help, now they dodged out of the way and cowered from the silver chariot I was riding in. If a particular soul looked rowdy, Fabia would point her spear in its direction and growl.

I'll admit I was a little calmer now that we had a fast mode of transportation, though I wondered if Fabia had any means of crossing the Acheron. If not, only half our problems were solved. At least we had someone with a weapon now. That might count for something. Either way I couldn't help but feel antsy, like something was happening. I pressed my thumb into my forefinger while still gripping the edge of the chariot.

~

I was surprised when Fabia stuck her javelin towards the horizon. "We are almost there, m'lady."

I'd expected it to take longer. Silently, I thanked Hades for giving me free roam of the Underworld and its occupants. Without this transportation, it could have taken a lot longer. Even still, my knuckles were sore from gripping tight to the chariot, and I was glad we'd be stopping soon.

We passed by the pavilion of judgement in the peaceful quiet between the Fields of Punishment and the Fields of Asphodel, and I was surprised by how few souls were passing through. I looked past to see Cerberus, and the few souls waiting to pass him, too. We had four days left, and so far we'd been in the Underworld for probably two. With Fabia I had no doubt we could make it on time, granted we actually found a cure and everything worked out okay, but still it was noticeable that a lot of souls were not where they were supposed to be.

I'd just assumed seeing the Fields of Asphodel would bring me joy. I'd see the place and heave a sigh of relief, knowing the souls in the Fields of Asphodel, shades as I'd come to learn they were called, wouldn't scream my name and beg for help, or yell in agony.

Of course, my reaction was the exact opposite. Mostly because it wasn't the shades I was seeing.

As the Fields of Asphodel came into view, I was confronted with possibly my worst nightmare. My breath caught in my throat. Was I Henry now? Trapped in my own hallucination? Because there in front of me were the men and women in white, come to bring me out of my fantasy and into the real world.

They were all dressed like my normal hallucinations, in various articles of pure white clothes from head to toe. Hats, scarves, dresses, suits, t-shirts, shorts, socks, sandals, shoes, everything. And they all looked at me. They all smiled. They all knew, I was trapped.

In a blur I released my grip on the chariot, furiously pulling up my sleeve.

Pain is real.

But before I could press into the wound poisoned by the Dieffenbachia tree, I tumbled out of the fast-moving chariot. I heard it whistle to a halt as Fabia aggressively pulled on the horses' reins. Despite the aching pain now present in my right side after an awkward landing with my backpack, I stood. Pain was real, so maybe that was enough - but no, they were still there. I pulled the backpack off my shoulders and dropped it to the side.

The chariot stood between me and the Fields of Asphodel, and Fabia and Matt jumped from the chariot to join me. I lifted my right arm to my left but stopped, the pain in my side made it hard for me to move my arm.

"Y/N," Matt said softly, standing in front of me. No matter how calm he made his voice, I could see the worry and panic on his face. "Y/N, look at me. It's going to be okay."

Okay? I grit my teeth and moved my arm fast and hard into my wound. I cried out, but didn't look away from the hallucination. There were a hundred of them, unwavering, none disappearing. I tried to breathe, I tried to figure out what was happening, and why now. A second ago I felt confident in the Underworld and my ability to control it. Now the Underworld had become my prison, my room in the psych ward.

It only got worse when they moved closer, and I could see their faces. My eyes widened as I saw familiar faces - the man from Simon's dad's car, the old woman who was only sleeping, and the girl. The girl from outside Dr. Clinn's office. Before any of this happened.

I didn't let go from pressing down until Matt pulled my hand away.

"Tell me what you see." He said. Without hesitation, I opened my mouth.

"They're everywhere." I said shakily. "They won't go away, and they're everywhere."

"M'lady, what is it you wish me to do?" Fabia asked, javelin at the ready. I ignore her. Matt's gaze shifted from eye to eye, like he was thinking.

"Y/N, what do they look like."

"It doesn't matter what they look like!" I said, falling to my knees. I could feel heat rise to my cheeks, tears prick my eyes. "They're everywhere. It's over."

"I don't—" Matt stopped himself. "I don't like doing this to my friends. But Y/N, look into my eyes."

I furrowed my brow as he kneeled in front of me.

"Be calm." He said. It was like he'd whispered it inside of my head. My breath slowed. I took a shaky breath, moving to speak, but I couldn't get any words out. "What do they look like."

"There's a small girl with blonde hair and glasses, beside a tall man in a white leather jacket. And a girl with dark skin and curly dark hair. There's a boy with a backwards cap on. An old woman and an old man holding hands." My eyes locked on a woman more familiar than the others. One who wasn't smiling, but held a look of urgency. "There's—"

"A guy with Elvis hair. A woman in a white pantsuit. A red-head with a million freckles." He paused. "And Francine." Matt added. The calm had dropped.

"What?" I asked quietly. For some reason, I could tell he'd dropped his hypnotic stare and traded it with one of sympathy. He glanced over his shoulder at Fabia, who seemed confused and waited patiently in a stiff stance.

"Y/N, do you see the people I just described?" Matt asked.

"I... You can't see my hallucinations. How...?" I closed my mouth. It was like deja vu.

"Y/N," he stood in front of me. "What you're seeing right now... It's not a hallucination." And everything clicked.

I swallowed. Slowly, I stood. I moved my sore arm into my pocket, and retrieved my iPod nano. Matt nodded to himself, like he'd expected as much. I felt numb as I used my left hand to put the earbuds in. I pressed play, and turned up the volume.

I slowly walked over to the chariot, slower still I sat down and rested my back against the side of it.

I took a deep breath.

I started to cry.

Perhaps you don't understand yet why I was crying. You don't understand what Matt seeing the people in white meant. Let me tell you. It meant that the last four years had been a lie.

If Matt could see them, if Matt could see Francine, Matt could see my hallucinations. Only, they weren't hallucinations if he could see them. What once meant I was schizophrenic now only confirmed my heritage; a child of Hades. Because these were the shades of Asphodel, the neutral souls, only their memories hadn't been destroyed since Monday, the worst day for me in terms of hallucinations. Or, I guess, not hallucinations.

But I still had so many questions. Why had I seen some before Monday? Why hadn't Hades said anything when I'd brought up my diagnoses. Why didn't anyone else see... There were some questions only the gods themselves could answer. And I intended to ask him when I got the chance.

I don't know how long I sat there. Matt and Fabia didn't try to intervene. I build walls around myself since the first time I'd sat in Dr. Clinn's office. Rules that my hallucinations followed. How to deal with them. I built these walls to protect myself from impending insanity. The walls crumbled around me.

~

It took a while for me to get control of myself again. I knew that the longer I sat here, the more of a chance the souls had to run ramped around the worlds. They didn't seem to be harmful, but I'd come to realize that's not what Hades meant. If their testimonies to me when I thought they were hallucinations meant anything, it meant that the reason they'd escape the Underworld wasn't to destroy the world or anything - it was to fins their loved ones and pretend to be alive again.

I pulled my headphones out, and stood to face them. They hadn't moved since the last time they moved forward, and I couldn't tell if it was because of me or because there was some sort of boundary between this area of calm and the Fields of Asphodel.

"Francine." I said.

Matt, who'd previously been distracted by trying to talk to Fabia, stepped quickly to my side. He looked exhausted, and when he noticed me looking he stood up a little straighter.

The twenty-one year old stepped away from the other shades, and walked until she was in front of me. Francine locked her dark brown eyes on mine, she was still in her white robe.

"You knew." I said shortly.

"I tried to tell you." Francine agreed, voice hoarse like a smoker. "I shouldn't know everything, I shouldn't remember anything. I was under the impression you'd understand. As a demigod, I used what little strength I had left to cause disturbance to your iPod. I'm sorry, but I needed you to listen."

"And before you could explain, Hades found you and dragged you back to the Underworld." She nodded. "You've been in the Fields of Asphodel ever since?"

"Yes."

"Did you see who poisoned the Lethe?" Matt asked suddenly. I remembered him saying there was a small fountain of it in his cabin that had stopped flowing.

Francine shook her head. "When I died on a quest three weeks ago, I had died a heroes death. My questing partners buried me with drachma, so I could pay for a ferry to the Underworld a week later. I was sent to the Isle of the Blessed; Elysium. I was supposed to be reborn, this Tuesday actually, but by the time I was supposed to drink from the Lethe, nothing happened."

My mouth opened. She didn't know who'd done it, but she knew something else that was equally if not more important. "The River Lethe," I said. "Can you take us there?"

Francine nodded, and looked at Fabia warily. "But the warrior does not come."

I furrowed my brows, but Matt managed to ask "Why?" first.

"Any souls not in Elysium were thought to be escapees of the Fields of Asphodel. The only secure place is the Fields of Punishment, that do not rely on the Lethe. Before you now are those of us who remember, throughout the field are the shades who came before Monday. Because I was found far from the Isle of the Blessed, Hades' guards and minions placed me here without seeking out who I was. They thought I was fleeing."

"M'lady," Fabia cut in for the first time. "If I may, I am not leaving you alone. You called upon me, it is my duty to protect and serve you. You asked my name, that kindness will be repaid in my protection."

"I promise, Francine," I said, "When we fix this, I'll make sure Hades sorts through who belongs where. You will get rebirth... Whatever that means. But with all due respect, I don't think Fabia is going anywhere."

Francine pursed her lips. "Okay. Let's go."

I looked at Matt, who smiled at me. That was reassuring. I picked up my backpack, and got ready to step into the chariot.

Fabia stopped me. "Apologies, m'lady." She said. "No souls are permitted to ride this chariot. It is better if we go on foot."

~

Our quest of two had quickly doubled to a quest of four. Fabia was adamant about the other shades staying behind and not following us. The ones that had long forgotten who they were wouldn't come close, as if they knew just by seeing the Legionary at my side that I was not to be talked to.

Francine, who seemed to know Matt at least in passing, stuck by his side rather than mine. They led, and I walked beside my designated bodyguard. I'm not going to lie, walking to the Lethe was harder than walking through the Fields of Punishment. Everywhere I turned I was reminded of my latest discovery. Everywhere I turned I had to remind myself not to have a mental breakdown.

"It's here." Francine said shortly.

I caught up to them, and stepped onto the bank of the river. Poplar trees stood around us like stone guards around the Lethe. It's poppies, like I'd see in the vision Hades showed me, were shrivelled up and dead. The Lethe itself was a dirty grey colour, like sewage.

Matt dropped his backpack from his shoulders and pulled out a metal flask the size of my fist. It made sense, Simon would have had it instead of me, which is why Matt had it now. But even still I'd completely forgotten to even consider bringing one, because I hadn't known it had been packed.

"Usually you shouldn't touch the Lethe," Matt told me. "A single drop of this stuff will revert your mind to that of a newborn baby." He uncorked the vial, and moved closer to the slow moving river.

Francine cut in front of him. "Even so, Matteo, I'd rather if I did it. We still don't know what poison could have done this, and just because I'm okay after bathing in it to try and erase my memories, maybe you won't be. I'm already dead."

Matt nodded, and handed Francine the flask. She dipped it into the murky water. "When you return to Camp, can you do me a favour?"

"Of course." Matt replied.

"Tell Caleb I say hello."

"I will." Matt promised.

Her caramel skin seemed to dissolve within the river, yet when she pulled the now full flask out, her hand seemed fine. I shrugged it off. Who knows if that was just the poison doing whatever it did? I figured if Matt had stuck his hand in there, the same thing would happen, but instead of his hand coming out intact, he'd lose the whole thing. I shuddered and pushed past the thought. 

She straightened up, and turned back to us. As she reached to pass Matt the flask, her whole body went stiff. Her eyes widened. Piercing through her abdomen was an arrow with a purple pulsing arrow head. Fabia jumped in front of me, spear ready. Matt moved to catch Francine as her eyes closed and she fell into him, but as her skin met his, she dissolved into mist, leaving only the flask in his hand. I pulled him by the elbow to my side.

Completely stunned, I looked to the other side of the Lethe. Poised on a hill ten feet away was a boy in Greek battle armour. Without a helmet, he showed off his neatly trimmed black hair, his blue anisocoria eyes pierced through his porcelain skin, one pupil larger than the other. On his forearm I noted a tattoo, but couldn't make out what it was. He smirked at me.

"Normal arrows would have gone right through her." He mused as he walked closed. As he descended down the hill, more people in Greek armour marched after him. "That one's magic. Kills the dead."

He hadn't shot the arrow. A girl with blonde hair and dark eyes behind him had. She held the bow with a proud grin on her faced. I noticed the the boy, maybe sixteen years old, the same age as Matt, was holding some sort of sword. It was a mix of gold, bronze, black, and silver - I wasn't sure what it was made out of.

My eyes widened. He poisoned the Lethe, and with a sword forged from four metals attacked my palace while I was distracted, I recalled Hades saying.

"Who are you?" I asked. Fabia held her javelin at the ready. The boy had four people behind him, I didn't know if it would be a fair fight. Matt had his powers, but I couldn't do much besides cower behind my Legionary.

"Me?" The boy asked in a rather low voice. Matt looked at me behind tired and frightened eyes. I understood why. Hades never said anything about this guy still being in the Underworld.

"Well," He continued, grinning. "I'm the child of Hades."


	12. TEN: It Happened Quiet

The sword was all I could focus on. It was a gladius hispaniensis, as Matt had muttered under his breath. Four feet long and deadly.

"Y/N, right?" He asked. I swallowed. "Don't be alarmed, I know all about the children of Hades from camp. I have people within who... Keep me informed. In fact, you should be quite grateful I know who you are, otherwise I wouldn't waste time with talking."

Matt looked at me, then turned back to the boy. "You have spies in camp? Who are you working with? We've had uprises before - the gods always win."

"The gods haven't met Tyler yet." The archer said.

Tyler just waved his hand like he was pushing the topic aside, the archer bowed her head like she knew she'd said something wrong. "This is not about the future war, Matteo." Matt recoiled. Tyler looked at me, cowering behind Fabia. "This is about our Father."

"What's the cure for the Lethe?" I tried, voice shaky.

"This is about our Father." Tyler replied quickly, glance steely like he could cut me with a gaze. Fabia made no move to fight, but I was sure if they did she'd protect us. "This is about my sister. This is about your mother."

I was wrong. It wasn't his gaze that had cut me. It was his words. He smiled at me, he knew he had my attention.

"You'd think she'd be down here, eh? You've probably been looking for her since you got here. It's been a year, and my sister is still waiting for Charon to ferry her across - or she was until a 'hero' tried making a voyage to the Underworld and slashed her soul away with a cursed blade to make a point." He said hero like the word was venomous, his expression sour. "Your mother is still waiting, too. Hades doesn't care about my sister because she wasn't born to him, and he doesn't care about your mom because she isn't his kid. The gods don't love the mortals they seduce. Even still, they love themselves more than they love us. I begged our Father for weeks to let her into the Underworld, to put her straight into the Fields of Elysium, to bring her back to life. All my pleads went unheard. He doesn't care. Hades doesn't care."

He tracked his way towards the bank of the Lethe, the archer, two swordsmen, and a girl holding a dagger following a ways behind him.

"Stay back, or I will engage," Fabia said, voice dangerously low.

"Relax, Roman." Tyler pursed his lips. "Y/N, you're his pawn. The gods send their kids to do their dirty work. Quests, they call them. Like they're some form of glory." Angry, his voice raised, veins popped in his neck. "Do you know how many demigods die on quests? The gods send their children to the slaughter! Any hint of a relationship Hades might have given you is a facade."

"Shut up." Matt said to him.

Tyler only smiled at him. "Oh, Matteo. Delusional. You think Hypnos is a good dad because he stuck around for a while? A good dad would have stuck your mom in the looney bin way before she could hurt you. A good dad would have healed your face, raised you right, would have helped you."

Matt grabbed my hand like he was about to pass out. It was a mix of exhaustion and Tyler's words, heavy with hatred. Heavy with truth.

"Further proof," Tyler stretched his arms out, sword swinging haphazardly around. "Did Hades tell you you aren't schizophrenic? That all those hallucinations you see are really the derivative of a power you got from him - to see the souls about to cross to the Underworld, and those who had since escaped?"

I took a breath. "He didn't know."

"He knew." Tyler assured me. "He knew, and he didn't say a single thing to you. Not when it first started happening, not when you finally met him in person."

"How do you know?"

"How do I know what? That Hades knows? The gods are all aware of which powers their children have. How I know it isn't schizophrenia? Let's just say some people were really suspicious of your hallucinations when you started seeing one named Francine."

I looked at Matt, squeezing his hand. 'Caleb,' I mouthed, stunned.

"So, Y/N, I seek revenge. Poison the Lethe, so the souls who deserve more than what they're given don't have to forget their past lives. So those who can find a way out can get back to the ones they love. This sword," He raised it, "Forged in iron, celestial bronze, Imperial gold, and, of course, Stygian iron: it's a weapon fit to kill a god. In my hands, to kill the god of death himself, loosely speaking. Chop him into little pieces, throw him into Tartarus wrapped up in a little bow. Sound familiar? Of course he wasn't at the palace the first time I moved to attack, and then he went off to hunt the souls that got away and left you to clean up the rest of my mess. It isn't going according to plan, but it could be beneficial. Children of Hades are quite powerful, and we need to stick together."

"You're working for Kronos. He's finally been revived, after all this time." Matt cut in.

"Oh, no. This is not a deity team up sort of deal. But that's beyond the point. Y/N, I'm asking you to join me in my fight against Hades. If he won't show justice to our families, if he won't give us the respect we deserve... He deserves a special spot in Tartarus, and we can begin ruling over the domain that is so rightfully ours."

I looked at Matt. His plan seemed... Eccentric. Yet I couldn't say no right away. If Hades knew I wasn't schizophrenic - why didn't he tell me? Why didn't he save me years of torment, save my mom years of debt. Tyler was right. He didn't care about my mom, which is why he let her suffer; all those jobs she took to support me, her social life withering away to nothing, our conversations limited because whenever we found time to speak she was too tired to carry a conversation... It was his fault. And it was his fault she died, too. More than it was mine, it was his fault. The god of death, unable to bring my mother back to life, someone he 'loved' so much that I was born - he didn't love her. He never loved her. And he didn't love me, either.

My chest felt tight. Matt squeezed my hand so tight I thought my fingers might crack.

"Y/N, you're not considering this." He said, looking into my eyes. A sort of lull under his voice made me sure of it - he was trying to hypnotize me from the thought. Hypnotization, something he said he never liked to do on his friends, yet here he was attempting to do it on me a second time. Yet, he was unsuccessful. Too tired to muster any power behind his words.

But Matt was also right.

As much truth as Tyler's testimony held, I wasn't considering this. I wasn't a fighter, I wasn't seeking any power that came from overthrowing a god who just so happened to be my dad, even if he was a douche bag. Overthrowing him wouldn't save my mom. Letting souls loose on Earth, taking over Manhattan, the very thing I was trying to prevent, wouldn't help anyone either. His plan was flawed. He ascends to the throne of Hades and what? Rules what domaine? If all the souls dead and dying currently have free roam to flee back to the real world, who is he the king of? Nothing. No one.

"Let me rephrase." Tyler offered, noticing my pause. "You join me, we have infinite power and avenge our families. You refuse, and we take Matteo as a consolation prize. A child of Hypnos can be of a lot of service..."

Oh, crap. An ultimatum. I looked at Matt, wide eyed beside me. He knew he couldn't put up much of a fight if now he couldn't even use his powers, even with his knowledge of hand-to-hand combat. He was too exhausted, and I couldn't do anything. I swallowed hard.

Then I remembered the six foot legionary standing in front of me with a spear ready.

"You know what? I'm good. You do you, we're just gonna take our sample and leave."

One of his friends, the taller of the two swordsmen, stepped beside Tyler, casting him in darkness so his different sized pupils seemed even more sinister. I swallowed, but didn't waver. Fabia was on Hades' elite squad, right? There was no way even the four of them could get past her, she'd protect me and Matt. That is, if our enemies could even figure out how to cross the Lethe.

Tyler scoffed, tilting his head slightly and nodding. "I have to say, Y/N," he commented, "I didn't peg you as the loyal type."

Fabia tensed, like she'd been shocked. She gripped the spear tighter in her hand. My breath hitched when I realized why. Tyler reached out and grabbed the other swordsman, and he grabbed the girl with the dagger. Tyler faded into the shadow of his taller friend, his team following him into the darkness. He reappeared behind Fabia, who whipped around to greet him.

"Stay back!" She cried, thrusting her spear at the swordsman. As he dodged, the girl with the dagger spun behind me and pulled me against her metal armour, arm across my chest, dagger to my throat. It happened so fast I didn't even have a chance to flinch. My eyes widened as she pressed the blade into me slightly. Fabia lunged towards me, but the swordsman leapt between us. The archer started shooting arrows at my Legionary, the other swordsman across the bank watching in what could have been amusement.

"And while I'm not loyal," Tyler commented, "I do keep promises."

I turned my head slowly to the left, the girl behind me who was no older than I was didn't stop my slow movements. Matt was shaking in Tyler's grasp, too afraid to swallow. He looked at me. The flask had dropped to his feet, his hands gripping Tyler's arm instead. Tyler held him the same way I was being held, but the four-metal sword was much scarier to behold.

"Fabia!" I mustered. The dagger pushed harder into my throat. "Get Matt!"

But Fabia was jabbing, dodging, and deflecting all over the place. As long as the archer kept firing arrows towards me and the swordsman pulled her farther away so she was constantly reaching back and forth, she couldn't help much.

Matt's brown eyes held an unreadable expression. Fear, but there was more.

"Stygian iron pulls the soul from the body in seconds." Tyler whispered coyly into Matt's ear, but his eyes, blue and hollow, kept watch on me. "Don't move."

I couldn't fight. Matt couldn't hypnotize, or move; if he did the sword would kill him with a cut. If I'd just said yes, even if I didn't mean it, I could have given him a chance to escape and whatever happened to me happened. I couldn't let Matt get taken. I couldn't let them hurt him. Fabia let out a scream as the swordsman landed a blow. Her growl made Tyler look up at her.

I wasn't a fighter.

I wasn't a fighter.

I shot my elbow backwards, and though I only managed to hit the metal of her chest plate, the girl loosened her left arm. I pulled away, the dagger in her right hand carving a stinging line into my skin. I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't have a plan. I just knew I couldn't let Matt go.

Tyler caught sight of me barrelling towards them, and still holding Matt thrust his sword out towards me. It was like the world was in slow motion. I could see where his sword was and where it was going, and I moved to dodge the blade, to plow Matt and him into the ground so maybe, just maybe, he'd drop the weapon and release Matt. My foot landed on something metal, halting my momentum. The flask. I started falling forward. I couldn't turn, catch myself, or do anything to stop it.

Matt fell apart, like a stone broken into sand. He tried to fight to get from Tyler's grip, screaming, because the blade was no longer pointed at him. Fabia pushed the swordsman into the Lethe, where he vanished like every cell in his body was pulled away in the current. She hit the girl with the dagger with the butt of her spear, and she crumpled to the ground. The archer had no more arrows. But it was too late.

Tyler and Matt disappeared into my shadow. Fabia moved to catch me.

I can't remember much more, but I know it happened quiet. So quiet. The world was coloured red as I landed like a flower in a meadow. A flower lands soft, but only falls when it's broken.

~

I woke with a gasp on my lips. There was definitely something around my neck. It felt like fire was running through the veins on my left arm. Worse yet, the left side of my abdomen felt like it was trapped in a reoccurring explosion, a pain so strong it was almost numbing itself. It felt like not even a minute had passed, yet from the line of beds around my own, the camping lights set up on the bedside tables, the wooden ceiling, I knew I was in the camp infirmary.

There were about twenty beds in the infirmary, and seven of them were taken up, all of us far from the door as if those beds were reserved for any incoming injuries. Fabia was standing guard at the foot of my bed. Along her left shoulder ran a deep gash, but when a familiar child of Apollo tried to tend to her wounds she brushed him aside.

"As I have told your brethren, I refused to be touched. Tend to m'lady." Fabia growled.

Caleb looked over at me. Noticing I was awake he began to cross over. Caleb was a spy, a traitor, working with my half-brother to try and overthrow the other gods, starting with my dad. My breathing sped up as I made a move to sit. I couldn't let him near me. But the pain in my abdomen kept me from moving away from him. All I could do was frantically reach my right arm up to try and tear whatever was around my neck away.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Caleb called, my attempts only prompting him to speed up to my bedside. I tried to yell but nothing came out as he pulled my hand back down against the bed. "Calm down, okay?" He smiled. "It's me. You're back at camp, everything is okay."

My head began to throb. He reached over me to examine my left arm. When he released my right arm, I used it as a battering ram straight into his gut. Caleb reeled back. Heads swivelled from beds, children of Apollo surged forward. Fabia was quicker. Not sure what gave it away; my inability to breathe around him or the fact that I was actively trying to get him away from me, but Fabia stood between me and Caleb with her spear ready. Man, it felt good to have a Legionary on my side.

"Whoa," Terra said, arms out in a sort of 'everyone calm the hell down' pose. "Okay, it's okay. Caleb, out in the hall. Fabia, may I be allowed to help Y/N?"

After visibly calming down when Caleb disappeared, another Apollo kid followed Terra to my bedside at Fabia's begrudging allowance. Fabia stayed at the right side of my bed, watching the two girls on my left like she could kill them with a glance. Terra, hair gold as ever, seemed unfazed by this. The girl behind her, introduced to me as Alex, had dyed red hair running past her waist, tan skin, and grey eyes.

"Y/N, hi." Terra smiled at me with pearly white teeth. Alex looked at me nervously behind wire glasses, like she was a shadow on the first day of working as a doctor.

A shadow.

"Matt." I croaked. When a spoke it was like a knife had gone through my throat. I reached my right hand up again, this time only to coyly touch what was around my neck. Gauze, covering the dagger wound. My headache grew worse.

Looking down at my arm as best as I could without moving my neck too much, I saw the wound from the dieffenbachia tree, the pulsing green straying off into my veins - hot and burning. I couldn't see my abdomen, but I knew what happened to it.

"You have some extensive injuries, okay?" Terra cooed. "Your Legionary won't tell us much of what happened, but when your throat heals we can get some information from you, yes?"

It was like the headache was pressing against my eyelids, forcing them to close. When they did a flurry of images crossed in front of my eyes. Eyes, blue and hollow. Shadows growing, shrinking. The world, coloured red. I kept my eyes open, trying my best not to blink.

"You look tired. That's okay. We have the sample, and we've already started working on finding a cure. Just sleep, when you wake up your neck will most likely be healed, then we can work on the other wounds."

"Matt?" I asked again, wincing at the horrible pain shooting across my neck. My headache so bad now I could hear it thumping in my ears.

Terra looked at me, gave a polite smile, then turned back to Alex. "Nectar, Al. Nectar and more gauze."

I didn't mean to, but I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. The headache pulled me under, into a never-ending loop of what had just happened.


	13. ELEVEN: Pompeii

Music was playing in my ears. It was a punchy song, the heavy beats had probably woken me more than anything else. Someone was holding my hand. I slowly opened my eyes, and heaved a heavy sigh when I saw who was sitting on the right side of my bed, a book on the arm of his chair, his head propped against his arm, and his other hand coiled into my own.

"Simon." My voice was only a whisper, but it didn't hurt my throat at all - my neck must have been healed. Simon perked up and spun to look at me. I weaselled my right hand from his grasp to pull the earbuds out.

He looked at me with a goofy grin, his light grey eyes almost watery. His blonde hair was tied up in a man bun at the back of his head. Any scars or bruises from the Catoblepas were long gone. There was no remnant of our first fight. He was in a Camp Half-Blood bright orange shirt, with a white long-sleeve top underneath it. In a place as warm as camp, I wondered why he needed the extra layer.

I'd been changed in my sleep. I was in a fresh camp shirt, and too-large leggings. Even without touching it I could feel how greasy my hair was against the back of my neck, how knotted and tangled it had become.

"If you feel up to eating, I got you some pizza." Simon smiled at me. "The pizza guy got lost a few times, but he came eventually." Pizza, my favourite.

Without thinking I stretched both arms and threw myself at him to give him a big, long, much needed hug. It felt like I'd sliced my whole body in half. Simon quickly helped me back against the bed where I now lay crying, my left arm and abdomen were nowhere near healed or without pain.

"Whoa, Y/N," He said gently. He looked over his shoulder as if to see if an Apollo camper were here. There were only three beds occupied now, and the other two demigods were sleeping. Fabia was still standing at the foot of my bed, but it appeared she wasn't listening in on our conversation. The camping lantern on my bedside table was still on, providing Simon with the light he needed to read his book. The pain, still vividly there, began to ebb away enough for me to compose myself.

"Hugging. Bad idea." I muttered. Simon chuckled at me.

"I'll hug you once you tell me what happened." He promised. "Chiron's sleeping now, and as much as I know I should wake him for your explanation, he hasn't slept since you guys left. I think it might be Hades sending a skeleton army to camp. They didn't do much but throw rocks at his window at the back of the Big House. He told us not to kill them because it was his punishment for telling another demigod to accompany you... They went away as soon as Fabia's chariot broke through camp's border. We thought it was another attack of some sorts, until we saw you laying in the chariot."

I nodded, but a weight formed on my chest. "Any news on Matt?" I asked coyly.

Simon swallowed, his jaw clenched an unclenched. "We've been trying to find something for days. We don't know where he is, and all Fabia would tell us is that he's been taken, and he's not in the Underworld. It's not much to go off of. But we've almost perfected a cure for the Lethe! I can show you in the morning, the Demeter cabin is responsible for our breakthrough."

"Hang on," I put my good arm up in a gesture of silence. "A few days?"

Simon grabbed my hand and squeezed it again. "Um, yeah. You woke up a few hours after Fabia brought you here, I didn't know you were awake. I was helping cabin six try to figure out what was up with the sample of the Lethe you brought back. It's been two days since then."

I moved to sit up but again immediately regretted it. Simon pushed my shoulders back against the cot. I covered my abdomen with my right hand, groaning.

"Crap." I muttered. "But the sample, I didn't grab that. And if it's been a few days, I need to go. Tyler wanted Matt because he was a child of Hypnos. I think I know why specifically, and what they're going to make him do."

Simon clenched his jaw again. "So it's true. I mean, it was the only reasonable explanation for Matt being taken and you coming back looking like you'd been hit by several trucks, but we couldn't be sure. The demigod who poisoned the Lethe, you met him."

I nodded. I launched into the story. The Fields of Punishment, the Acheron, shadow travelling for the first time... Recounting the story just reminded me how much Matt had helped me, and made me feel sick. No matter how hard I wished it could be different, it had already been two and a half days, and I couldn't sit up much less run around trying to find him. I had no clue where he was. I got to the part about Fabia, and how she took us on her chariot to the Fields of Asphodel.

"When we got there..." I faltered, taking a deep breath. "The souls were dressed in all white, like my hallucinations. I'm not schizophrenic, Simon. I'm not a schizophrenic, and everything my mom did for me was for nothing." I shook my head. "But that's not important right now. In the Fields of Asphodel we met up with Francine, the child of Apollo who died a few weeks ago. She led us to the Lethe, and collected the sample for us. That's when Tyler and his team came up on the other side of the bank. He told me his plan; to kill Hades because of his injustice against he and I. He wanted me to help him. If I said no, he said he'd take Matt with him because he could be useful. I thought Fabia could take them on and protect us but they were flanking her and there was no way she could have gotten back to us to save Matt."

Fabia whipped around. I'd forgotten she was standing there. "M'lady, my task was never to save your friend."

I looked at Simon, then back at Fabia. "What?"

"My first and foremost duty is to protect you, and to yield to your commands. I was preoccupied fighting the other demigods, yes, but I was fighting them to protect you. And I failed."

I blinked. I recalled Matt trying to talk to Fabia earlier. She ignored him, but listened to me. She stood in front of me on the shore of the Lethe, not Matt. My abdomen began to hurt again. "I wagered his freedom on your ability to protect him." I choked out. Simon met my eyes, grabbing my hand quickly. Though I didn't have schizophrenia anymore, my best friend knew when my stress levels were rising, and right now they were through the roof. "I basically handed him over to Tyler."

Simon looked at me, and shook his head softly. "You didn't realize."

"I should have. And now he's gone, and we don't know where he went."

"Y/N, we'll find him. I promise." Simon squeezed my hand. "But what kind of weapon did Tyler cut you with? Chiron told Terra about the tree thing, but the nectar and ambrosia isn't healing your abdomen at all."

A cut that wasn't healing? I frowned, then my eyes widened. "A blade forged by four metals. Tyler made a weapon that could cut a god without killing him - so he could do to Hades what was done to Kronos and Ouranos before him. Imperial gold, iron, celestial bronze, and..." I stopped. I shouldn't be alive right now. "Stygian iron."

Simon unclenched his jaw. "Stygian iron? As in black iron, rips your-"

"-Soul out in three seconds flat upon a cut?" I finished. "Yeah. That's the one."

Simon looked down at my abdomen, though the wound was covered by gauze and my shirt.

"You should be dead."

"I know." I replied.

Simon, still in awe, added, "You should be optimistic."

"How am I supposed to be an optimist about this?" I asked. "I'm not dead? Sure, but I led Matt to the slaughter. The only thing keeping him alive, if what I think Tyler wants is right, is his ability to hypnotize. And once he's done what Tyler wants, I don't know if he'll keep him around."

Simon pursed his lips, and stood. "I mean, you should be optimistic that you aren't dead. If you can be cut by Stygian iron and not die - we have someone immune to Tyler's attacks."

"That would be a good thing." I agreed. "If it didn't leave me handicapped. If nectar and ambrosia won't heal it, what will?"

Simon stayed with me for the rest of the evening. We prompted each other to sleep. Neither of us did. Around two in the morning I looked over at him.

"Sleep. What a funny concept. Matt couldn't use his powers because he was tired. The child of Hypnos didn't sleep."

Simon perked up like he'd just gotten a 100% back on a test. He smiled at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Child of Hypnos." He stood so fast one of the campers on the other bed started to wake up, but quickly fell back asleep. Fabia watched him curiously, as if he might attack or something. He moved towards the front of the room and pulled open a supplies closet. He returned with an old wooden crutch, the initials 'C. L. R.' engraved into the side.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"We're taking a trip to cabin fifteen."

~

Walking was really not fun. However, the more I did it the better I got. It was like my body was getting used to the (metaphorically) soul-sucking pain. Fabia trailed behind Simon and I, and as per my request she stayed a ways away. If I was about to fall or something, Simon was ready to catch me. For the most part, the crutch did its job.

It was slow, but in the dead of night we made out way through the grass. I heard the flapping of wings, and my heart fluttered when I remembered that the harpies patrolled at night. I heard Fabia growl from behind us. The flapping disappeared into a distant hum.

Simon looked over at me. "Good bodyguard." He muttered.

We made it to the porch of cabin fifteen, I was greeted by the familiar poppies. Here they were not dead, but alive in vivid colour, even in the dark of night. The lights were off but the whole cabin had a soft, musty glow to it, the outside and the inside. The wooden floorboards didn't creek under our feet like one might expect them to, and the whole cabin lulled me into a sleepy limp.

Simon pulled open the door, and ushered me inside. I didn't quite understand what we were doing here yet, but Simon is the smartest person I know, and being my best friend I trusted him with everything I had. If anyone could help me find Matt, it was him.

He walked over to a boy sleeping on the bottom bunk of the cabin. I followed after him, slowly making my way around the branch fountain that must have once held the Lethe, like Matt had said. I recognized the boy as Ron, Matt's bunkmate, who generally was always asleep. Only now it looked like he was having a fitful rest, tossing and turning until Simon put a hand on his shoulder and startled him awake. He flung up with his half-brother's name on his lips.

"Ron," Simon said soothingly. Fabia stayed put at the door, watching us intently. I clung tight to my crutch. The atmosphere in here made me a dizzy sort of tired.

Ron swallowed and wiped some drool from his cheek as he sat up on his bed. "Was I doing it again?"

As Simon said "No." I stupidly asked "What?"

Ron looked guilty. Tan skin somehow pale and not because of the light. His hazel eyes were sunken like even he wasn't getting enough sleep. No doubt it was because of Matt. If you didn't talk to someone as much as you wanted to because they were tired or sleeping, it hurt as much as a bullet - or a wound from a Stygian iron sword - when they were gone. I knew.

"Nightmares. Had a lot recently. Sometimes I wake the other campers up with my screaming." Ron said guiltily. He rubbed a hand over his arm, and upon noticing my crutch moved over and let me sit beside him (I needed help sitting down. When I groaned Fabia almost charged down the cabin as if Simon was hurting me and not helping me). He turned to Simon. "I'm guessing you aren't waking me up because you found him?"

Simon smiled at him sympathetically. "No," he looked at me. "But I had an idea of how we can. We need your help, and especially Y/N's."

"Is this the part where you tell me what we're doing?" I asked curiously, hand on my abdomen.

"Yeah." Simon agreed. "This is the part where I tell you what we're doing."

~

I was lying down on the top bunk above Ron's; Matt's bed. It took a lot of effort getting me up there, including stopping halfway up the ladder because my abdomen felt like it was on fire, but we managed.

Ron looked at Simon, nodded, and looked back at me. His head only just made it above the mattress of the top bunk, army-cut black hair like a crown on his head. "Y/N," he took a deep breath. "I want you to know that not every child of Hypnos has the ability to hypnotize people or control their dreams - I can barely put mortals to sleep much less demigods. But Matt has all of the above, so let's hope that wherever he is, he's well enough to help."

"When you go under," Simon added. "Ron and Fabia are going to stay with you. As much as I want to stay, too, I really need to get back to my cabin. It just occurred to me what we might be missing for the antidote. I'll see you in the morning." He squeezed my hand quickly and dropped it. He was taller than Ron was, but not by much.

Ron looked at me. "Are you ready?"

I nodded. If this didn't work, I didn't know what else we could do.

Ron took a deep breath. His voice was like a creek when he spoke again. A bubbly sort of calm, something you could easily listen to for hours. "Sleep."

Immediately upon closing my eyes, I was somewhere else. I didn't realize how much pain I had been in until it was gone. You know that scene in Ratatouille where Remy and his brother are eating food, and each one has a different firework? That's what this felt like. In a world of pitch black, emotions would hit me and fireworks went off.

Fear came first in a blow of bright green whizzing past me. I couldn't move in my dream, I was a spectator in my own show. Hope whistled and popped in bright orange, though the firework paled in comparison to its predecessor. Worry struck in yellow. Panic in red. This wasn't working. Something was wrong. I couldn't fathom why I was seeing this instead, until - pop. Blue. Relief.

Matt's face came into view. He looked well rested for the most part. At one point or another, I'd stopped seeing the burns of Matt's face. As opposed to sticking out to me like they had when we'd first met, it had simply become him. He didn't hide it anymore, he didn't have to. Our scars don't define us, but they tell our story - like my Dieffenbachia tree cut, or the one left when my mom died, that people couldn't see. When you get cut, add it to the chapter, and turn the page.

"You're not dead!" He cried out.

"Matt," I heaved. "Matt are you okay? I'm so sorry, I-"

"He cut you with his sword, I was sure that you-"

"They're trying to find a cure, they think they're onto something, but we couldn't find you-"

"Did Fabia bring you back to camp? How are you alive? I don't-"

We both stopped. Talking over each other wasn't answering any of our questions. We were just both happy to be reunited - if you could call it that.

"Matt, where are you?" I asked him.

"Right now, I don't know." He replied. "It's been almost three days. He shadow travelled us back to wherever here is and we've been here ever since. I was left to my own devices, locked in this room alone. They give me food, water, but I'm a prisoner here."

I wanted to cry. I was the reason he was here, alone, scared. It was me.

"It felt like many days fell away with nothing to show for it. I know their plan now, or half of it, because they talk in the halls when they think I'm sleeping. They need me well rested so I can use my powers, they want me to-"

"They want you to hypnotize a god." I cut in. I'd thought so, but I wasn't sure until Matt swallowed, eyes downcast. "Even for a second, if you can get Hades under your control, Tyler can take advantage of that moment, and kill our dad." Saying it made me sick. He was my half-brother, yet we were so different. On opposite sides of a war he hadn't even started yet. "What's their plan?"

"I've only heard bits and pieces, but I think I have a clear idea of what Tyler wants to do." Matt replied hesitantly. "The twenty-third, I think that's tomorrow but I've lost track, we're going through the Door ofOrpheus, back into the Underworld. It has to be tomorrow because that's when the big jail break is, all the souls who remember will return to the streets and the mist won't be able to cover them all. We're going to storm Hades' palace and he's going to force me to hypnotize him." Matt frowned. "I'm strong, but thee harpies took a lot out of me. A god? Look, I don't want to do this, obviously. But Y/N, he didn't only threaten me, he threatened camp."

"I know you don't want to do this, Matt." I replied. "Of course I know. Why are you going through the Door ofOrpheus?" I questioned. "Why not just shadow travel in?"

"From what I figure, he can't shadow travel a lot of people at once. There's gotta be at least twenty demigods here, maybe more, and he's planning on bringing all of them to the Underworld. He got past Hades' defences once or twice before, but Hades has surely ramped up the security once he heard you were killed by the sword."

"I wasn't killed." I cut in. "Hades would know if I were dead or not."

"Exactly, but Tyler doesn't know that. I didn't know that. You should be dead with a cut from Stygian iron - I thought you were dead." He paused. "Remember how I said that children of certain gods have special abilities, but not every kid has the same powers? Tyler can shadow travel like a pro, but little else. He can't control the dead - or the Underworld, for that matter. His army comes from the demigods that he's managed to pull to his side, half-bloods who want revenge on their parents and want to do it themselves, with no help from other deities. His fight is in his combat. You? He thinks you're dead, which makes you our secret weapon."

"Secret weapon? How?" I said remorsefully. "I'm not dead but I am wounded. I can barely stand let alone walk without a crutch and a break every few minutes. In what way am I a secret weapon?"

"You have those powers. Complete control of the Underworld? Check. Seeing dead people? Check. You can control them. Whenever you made them go away, that was you controlling them. Plus you have the element of surprise. If Tyler thinks you're dead, he might think that everyone at camp thinks we're still on our quest - he won't expect anyone to fight him except for Hades and his minions. You have to be our secret weapon. You, the dead girl, leading an army of the dead."


	14. TWELVE: Impossible Year

I woke up in a cold sweat, clutching my abdomen like I'd been stabbed again. Light swelled within the cabin, illuminating the walls, the empty fountain in the centre of the room, the nicknacks that belonged to Matt, Ron, or other Hypnos demigods who hadn't stayed throughout the year. Fabia stood guard at the door, like always, but upon noticing I was awake crossed into the threshold.

"M'lady, Chiron wishes to see you." Where I thought she might go 'stab stab' towards anyone who wanted to talk to me while I was unconscious, she held a formal and obvious level of respect for Chiron. She helped me down the ladder as I bit my lip to hold in the pain. "He is overseeing the demigods in cabin six."

Ron was on the bottom bunk. He wasn't sleeping restlessly like when we'd come in, and I didn't have the heart to wake him when he was sleeping so soundly. Fabia handed me the crutch we had leaning gently against the bedpost, and helped me from the cozy cabin into the bright sunny outside.

Walking still hadn't gotten easier. With each step my abdomen felt like it had been freshly cut, my left arm pulsing in pain whenever my leg did. I figured it was because I was using it with the crutch, but before I woke up back at camp my arm never hurt unless I pressed on it. We made it to cabin six, a total library knockoff. It was grey building with white curtains pulled back to let light in, identified easily by the brass number six under the engraving of an owl. I moved inside with the help of Fabia, finding it as busy as the dining pavilion during dinner. When I was inside, she resumed position outside the door.

I noted a few Demeter kids mixed between the Athena campers, and a few other kids who I didn't know, but looked like they were being helpful. I spotted Tiana from support group eagerly assisting a boy with brown hair, smiling at what little success they'd accomplished. Simon and Chiron walked (er, and trotted) over. Simon looked at me happily, Chiron with a look of what could have been admiration or disdain, it was hard to tell. I liked to think of it as the former.

"Y/N, how are you feeling?" Chiron asked quickly, like my health was the most important thing right now.

"I can walk," I answered decidedly. I didn't want him to send me back to the Big House infirmary or anything. "Sort of. Anyway, you wanted to see me?"

Chiron nodded. "Yes, I did. Simon told me what happened, and I can assure you it is not your fault in the slightest. I've had heroes blame themselves before. It helps no one. Thanks to the sample you brought back, however, I believe we are almost done acquiring a cure."

My ears peaked. A cure. Perfect. If we had that done today, by tomorrow when we ambushed Tyler, we could send a second team to pour the antidote into the Lethe, and eliminate any other chance he had to distract Hades and start getting the souls to drink, forget, and stay in the Underworld where they belonged.

"After a lot of tests, and some guessing, we've figured out what's in the poison." Simon told me as he and Chiron led me to a corner of the room. The beds in the Athena cabin were pushed to one side of the room as if sleeping were somehow less important than learning from all the books they had in here. A desk that had been cleared away held two bowls, two vials, and three open books.

"This bowl has the sample of the Lethe." Simon pointed to the first one. The liquid inside seemed to measure roughly to a teaspoon of the murky liquid. Floating inside was a dead poppy. "We had to split it up very small, test different things to see what worked and what didn't, so we wouldn't use it all up. Anyway, we've determined that it's a mix of aconite, and Lernaean hydra venom."

Chiron mused, "How he got poison from a hydra and the aconite plant, I don't know. The venom from a hydra can only be obtained when it is in angered or threatened, and when it is alive. The aconite plant - rare indeed. I thought it had been extinct. With luck, we managed to research a cure."

"He says 'we' like he'd even given us a chance to research." Simon rolled his eyes. "We told him it was hydra venom, he listed two cures and told us where we could find each. The aconite stumped him for approximately long enough for me to pull a book from the shelf, but before I could open it, he told us how to cure that, too. Only thing we're having problems with now is the ratios."

He pulled open one of the vials, grabbed a dropper from a desk drawer (as if droppers were commonly needed in cabin six), and stuck it in the vial.

"Sweat of an Armenian boar paired with common nectar. Don't ask me why, but this is the cure for the hydra venom." Simon told me, pulling the dropper out with a honey-gold liquid. He placed three drops into the second, empty bowl. Chiron nodded in approval as he opened the second vial and began to do the same. Simon continued, "Aconite. An herbation perennial plant, whose leaves and roots are incredibly toxic. Cure?" He pulled the dropper out, this time placing six drops into the second bowl. "Liquid soil acquired only by the eldest member of cabin four, Demeter. I don't quite understand how Tiana got that, I don't know how you can get completely liquified soil, but I'm not complaining."

"However,"Chiron cut in, "when we put this solution in, the following occurs." He took it upon himself to take the second bowl from Simon's hands, and pour the contents into the bowl with the Lethe water. I limped forward on my crutch, winced, and looked down at the bowl.

The murky brown liquid began to bubble, with each 'pop' the poison ebbed away into oblivion. With it left the colour, leaving only milky white - the way the Lethe was supposed to look. But the bubbles didn't stop, and instead of the milky white water, the liquid turned pure black. Close, but not good enough.

"Any ratio we've tried similar to this one but not too far off doesn't react even remotely the same way." Simon said.

"None have come close to turning the sample white." Chiron added. "Alas, we are unsure of what to do. Perhaps you, a child of the Underworld's ruler, might have an idea?"

I tried to think of something, anything, but I had no clue. What could I do to help this? Yell at the water? It worked for the Acheron, yet I doubted I would have the same effect on the river of forgetfulness. I shook my head.

Chiron nodded. He'd been expecting this answer. "Simon also tells me of his plan to get you in contact with Matt?"

I nodded, eagerly. "Yes - Yes! It worked. It's weird, but I spoke to him in my dreams." I told them, taking a seat on the corner of the table for lack of being able to stand any longer. Chiron raised an eyebrow at me. I began to tell them what Matt said - about Tyler's plan and it going down Monday, tomorrow. I also slipped in our plan. Me surprising Tyler at the entrance to the Underworld, leading an army of the dead to fight and subdue him, and send people - dead or alive - into the Underworld to cure the Lethe.

I heard Fabia shuffle out of the way at the door to cabin six, and turned around to see Ron come in sleepily. He caught sight of me and hurried over. "Did you get in touch with Matt? Are they hurting him?" He asked quickly, running scrawny hands over his forehead.

"He said they locked him up mostly alone. They give him food and water, and it's important to them that he get's enough sleep. He didn't say anything about them hurting him." I told him reassuringly.

"He wouldn't." A chill ran up my spine. Outside the door, ducking under Fabia's spear to cross inside (Chiron raised a hand at her that made her grumpily turn away. I guess he had as much rein over her as I did), Caleb sauntered into the room. Crap, I thought. I didn't tell Simon about Caleb being a traitor. "Matteo doesn't tell people when he's been hurt. He's the type of guy who listens to your problems and won't indulge in his own. I'd know; I'm the camp psychiatrist."

I balled my hands into a fist, the left one tight against the wooden crutch handle. "You're the camp traitor." I spat. Conversation and discussion about what could be missing in the cure halted from everyone inside cabin six.

Chiron trotted to my side. "Y/N, that is a very serious accusation to make."

"He's working with Tyler." I replied dangerously low. Caleb played dumb, looking confused.

"Y/N, are you dizzy? Headache? You might have a concussion..." He offered.

I turned to Chiron. "Francine, a daughter of Apollo who died a few weeks ago. When I thought I was schizophrenic, I saw someone who told me her name was Francine. She told me that something was wrong. In the Underworld, she helped us get the sample of the Lethe. That sample of the Lethe," I motioned to the bowl on the desk Simon was standing behind. He was watching me like he was concerned. I hadn't told him about Caleb, maybe that was why. "And then Tyler shot her. Killed her ghost. She just wanted rebirth."

Caleb's demeanour dropped before he fixed his composure. He tried not to falter, but I knew I'd hit him when I mentioned Tyler being the one who did it, even if that wasn't the whole truth.

"Tyler told us he knew I wasn't a schizophrenic because someone - Caleb - raised suspicions when I said I'd seen Francine. The only people who knew about me seeing her were Caleb, Matt, and Simon."

Caleb jumped in before Chiron could, the other campers watching with bated breath. "What do you mean by when you thought you were schizophrenic? Y/N, schizophrenia doesn't only include hallucinations. It includes paranoid delusions. Chiron, Matt was in charge of giving her Clozapine. When he was taken, he took the pills with him. Y/N, you're just looking for someone to blame for all of this, and your mind conjured up this delusion of me being a bad guy. That mixed with your serious injuries, you shouldn't even be walking around right now. Please, let me bring you back to the infirmary."

I was mad. I opened my mouth to fight back - how this was insane, how he should just give it up, but Chiron stepped in front of me.

"Y/N, perhaps it is time you have more of a rest,"

"Chiron," Simon said behind me. "I trust her."

"I know you do, Simon." Chiron replied. I furrowed my brows. My forehead felt sweaty. "I will look into this, Y/N, but go have Terra check for a concussion. I will work on reordering your antipsychotic in the meantime. Caleb, perhaps you can shed some light on the cure?"

"Chiron, please." I clutched my abdomen tight when I moved to step closer to the centaur. "What about Matt? He was there, he knows. And tomorrow, when Tyler-" He shook his head, and I stopped. It wasn't hard to tell what he was thinking. I was insane. Caleb wasn't a traitor, and I was the only one to account for my dream with Matt telling me what Tyler was planning. Fabia grumbled from the door.

My head began to pound.

"Chiron-"

"Y/N," Chiron stopped me again.

"Y/N," Simon added. "Come. You and me. Let's go."

I couldn't tell how Simon was playing it. He said only a second ago he believed me, but the fake calm of his voice like some psychiatrists I'd met told me that perhaps he was buying into this madness.

I saw Caleb smirk at me before replacing the grin with another look of worry when Chiron glanced his way. The world started spinning. It was like with each beat of my heart the wound on my abdomen and therefore my arm grew tighter and tighter. No, this wasn't happening. They couldn't not believe me - especially not Chiron. If we didn't go tomorrow, we'd be too late. It would be too late!

"Catch her!" Simon called, as I dropped the crutch and followed it towards the floor.

~

For approximately the thousandth time within two days, I woke up in the Big House infirmary, Simon had put the headphones back in my ears and was once again holding my hand. I wondered if, but some small chance, what had just happened had been a dream. I hadn't gone to the Hypnos cabin and slept there, I hadn't seen what they were doing in cabin six, I hadn't been humiliated as a schizo by Caleb and Chiron.

Yet, when Simon looked at me, having not been asleep this time, I knew it had happened.

"Y/N, are you okay?" He asked quickly. He looked over his shoulder and called Terra over. It must have been later that evening, because the side lights weren't on in the infirmary yet and the sun was still casting a warm glow. I twitched my thumb over the buttons on the iPod nano Simon had slipped into my hand. I turned up the volume.

I didn't try to sit up this time. Even without moving I could feel the cut. I wondered if it was getting worse. I still had a headache, and I felt groggy. Though the weight on my chest came from a different kind of injury. Terra moved to my side, Fabia watched her like she was a death threat.

"I need to check for a concussion still." She said first and foremost, voice just managing above the music. "But before that... Your cut from the dieffenbachia tree, I think, is sort of..." Terra trailed off, shaking a few strands of gold hair into her face. Attention caught, I lowered the volume, if only a little.

"I think the magic surrounding the poison from the tree, which is still slowly killing you mind you - I don't know what Chiron was thinking. Anyway, I think it's keeping your other cut from, well, killing you. We had to rewrap the bandages, and when we did... Okay, let me show you."

She pulled my shirt over my stomach and peeled back the white wrap. I let her. She showed my my arm, how the cut on it was surrounded by green veins of sorts. The scar souvenir I had, that I didn't necessarily want to look at, was surrounded by the same. A few tendrils of green seemed to snake their way from the cut on my left arm over the shoulder, down my chest and to the cut. I hissed and grit my teeth when she reapplied the bandages.

After that accompanied with my lack of talking, Simon was looking at me funny. Obviously he was clued in that something was not right.

Terra continued the check up, looked for a concussion, concluded I didn't have one, and sauntered out of the infirmary after turning all the lights on - night time now.

"Y/N?" Simon questioned. I swallowed. "You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?" It was a fun game. What was he going to choose? I'm thinking I'm mad at him for not believing in me? I'm thinking I'm mad at him for not fighting Chiron? I'm thinking he thinks I'm insane?

But he beat me with a word. He said it very softly. He knew me very well.

"Henry." When I didn't answer, he continued. "Y/N, I believe you. You aren't schizophrenic, you saw Matt, we need to get to the Door ofOrpheus if we stand a chance against stopping this. You aren't Henry."

I closed my eyes. "My worst fear is that I am, Simon. But I'll never know. Not for sure. Pain is real, but if I've hallucinated people touching me on the shoulders before... I don't know. And the way everyone just agreed I was insane; maybe I am. Holy Hades, Simon, even you gave up on me."

He shook my hand so I'd face him. His furry blond eyebrows were pulled in tight. "Gave up on you? Are you talking about me trying to take you back to the infirmary? Y/N, that was because you looked like you were about to faint, and you did. Not only that, but I did it because I believe you. I was going to bring you back here and discuss it with you, but since you were out for a few hours I came up with a plan myself."

"Plan?" I knew when Simon was lying. His jaw would clench and unclench, sometimes he wouldn't even meet my eyes. Yet Simon wasn't doing any of that now. He truly believed me, and he really had come up with a plan to save the day. I let him continued.

"We figured out the cure. With Caleb's help, actually. I figure that gives him the credit he needs for Chiron to believe him, which is why everything we're going to do can't be known by the centaur. They don't believe you - well, most of them don't believe you that Tyler will be there tomorrow. Of course, they need to fix this as soon as possible, but what I heard from Tiana is that they're thinking of using it to lure Tyler out. Something about if you give us back Matt we won't cure the Lethe. Of course they will, but this is how they think they can save the day. We're smarter than that."

"You're smarter than that." Doubt had dissolved into admiration. Simon had always been the smartest person I knew. He was my best friend. The fact that even for a second I had doubted him made me feel guilty. Then again, this impossible year may have given me warrant to go through phases of emotions. He grinned at me, cheeks red.

"We leave tonight. I've talked Eleo. She's fifteen, but can hot-wire and drive a car. Most people don't believe you, but she's an excellent judge of character. She'll get us there by day break, so we won't be late to the party. We show up, we fight Tyler, we get Matt back, and I can sneak into the Underworld to pour the antidote." He didn't say anything, but it was obvious that even just the thought of him going into the Underworld made him feel uneasy.

"No. I need you by my side. Fabia can do it."

The legionary turned on her heel so fast my heart skipped a beat. "M'Lady, please. My duty is to protect you, and..."

"Listen to me," I added, wincing because I had stupidly tried to sit up. "You'll bring it to the Lethe, clear it up as soon as possible. I've got an army of the undead at my beck and call, the ghosts can keep me safe."


	15. THIRTEEN: C'mon

Simon was a fighter. He packed weapons, a shield, and even a helmet from Capture the Flag. He grabbed some ambrosia and nectar from the infirmary and stuffed it in his bag, alongside two water bottles and protein bars. He'd stolen the cure from cabin six, crept back to the infirmary, and with the help of Fabia fending off the harpies and Eleo carrying me (you can laugh, but she was very strong and although it hurt when she moved me a certain way it was quite fun), we snuck into one of the camp vans, outside of the camp border. Fabia, upon Simon's insistence and my request, left her chariot at camp. This meant a few things: it would appear that she was still at camp, and it would take her longer to get to the River Lethe. Of course, her appearing she was still at camp was vital to our cover story.

Eleo was going to drop us off, and get back to camp as soon as possible. She'd keep people out of the infirmary somehow, and me, Simon, and Fabia would all allegedly be inside. Tiana would wake up for a session with Caleb and instead sneak away to hold position at the infirmary until Eleo came back. Eleo warned that the hardest person to fool should he ask himself was Chiron. She couldn't lie to him, she'd been here far too long, and if he asked, she wouldn't be able to keep him from getting inside. That was okay. As long as it gave us enough time to prove most of the camp wrong, anything Eleo did was amazing.

Meanwhile, I packed a crutch, the will to live, and a full set of heavy metal armour. Where Simon could seriously kick ass, like he had allegedly been doing prior to me seeing the Catoblepar, I was not a fighter in the slightest. On top of that, I was injured. Moving hurt, some times it got worse, others better, but I couldn't do anything if my life depended on it. I guess, since Tyler seemed to have been willing to use his sword on me before without hesitation, my life really did. 

We had to get in the van as soon as possible, and leave as quick as we could. Once we were on the open road, we continued discussing the plan. I left one ear bud in, part because the music calmed me, and part because having a conversation and listening to music at full volume gave no room for my mind to wander. I'm not giving you the full extent of this, and I won't, but you need to understand. The most difficult thing throughout all of this isn't the monsters, the people who don't believe me, Tyler and his army, finding out I was slowly dying anyway, or even my mom... It's constantly wondering, constantly fighting with my own thoughts about if any of this was happening. If any of this was real.

Moving on, we figured this could happen a few ways. We were going to stick with Matt's idea to use my ability to control the Underworld to my advantage. To my knowledge, we'd have a leg up on the army because I and likely Tyler were the only ones who would be able to see the ghosts. This being said, us relying on this rag-tag group of ghosts who had only died recently or recently enough that they escaped the Underworld with their memories intact might go wrong. I could control factors of the Underworld, sure, and the dead seemed to be drawn to me - hence me 'hallucinating' most of my life, but Tyler was proposing a jail break, no forgetting their memories, free roam of the above ground... There was a possibility they'd stop fighting. If Tyler could make them listen to him, all bets were off.

Even still, talking about this made me think again to his plan, and how little sense it made. Let's say his plan worked. He got rid of Hades, took the title as god of the dead, and then what? You don't become immortal because you put a crown on your head (I don't think, mythology is weird though...), and the other gods wouldn't stand for it. That thought provoked another, and I remembered the first time I'd met my dad, the moment that provoked this whole quest and slew of problems. Hades was pleading with Zeus to help him with his problem, and the god of gods maintained that it wasn't his problem. Would the other gods care?

I was getting a headache. Simon told me to sleep, and with help getting into the back seats, I made myself as comfy as possible and heeded his advice. Of course I put the other ear bud in and turned up the volume before hand, so I could drown everything out.

~

I woke up in the worst way possible.

Eleo had accidentally hit the world's biggest pothole taking a side road to avoid police, which sent me flying upward, and landing hard back against the seat. I had woken up in mid-air, and between my flailing arms and my not-so-great landing, my abdomen burned like the hot sun. I clutched it tight, wincing as the arm movement also triggered pain in the cut there, and Simon later informed me that I let out a scream. Can you blame me? It felt like my stomach was on fire; my eyes watered, I couldn't get a breath in.

Fabia leapt from the passenger seat over Simon's seat to mine.

"M'Lady, what can I do?" She asked.

"Sorry!" Eleo called from the front.

Simon groggily peaked over his seat, looking concerned but tired. Outside the sky was only just beginning to lighten up. Somewhere in the commotion my headphones had fallen out. Simon reached into the bag he was using as a pillow and pulled out some nectar and ambrosia. I had calmed down significantly by this point. My wound still hurt like the sword was still in it, but I had gotten my breathing back to normal and sat up with the help of the legionary standing awkwardly over me in the low roofed van.

"M'Lady, please," Fabia said as I slowly gave myself a helping of ambrosia, knowing it wouldn't cure me but it would likely help. "Let me fight alongside you. The boy can bring the cure. You need my assistance."

I cleared my throat, hand still pressed tight to the bandages. "I can do it on my own. How much longer?"

"Not too long. An hour away. We can stop if you need to." The daughter of Hephaestus offered.

"No. We get there, we wait, you get back to camp as soon as possible. I trust Tiana, but small things set her - ow - off. She'll need you to come take her place."

Simon locked eyes with me.

After a while Fabia had begrudgingly returned to the front seat, helmet on, plumes against the roof of the car. Eleo seemed content in avoiding the authorities and driving. Simon was still looking at me, even after I had picked up my ear buds and put them back in.

"Y/N," he mouthed to me, "Can you do this?"

I stopped the music. My best friend ran a hand through his silky blond hair.

I whispered back, "I just have to stand there, command an army of dead people who likely don't know much about what's going on, and bargain with Tyler for Matt. All without being able to move. Oh, and did I tell you about the archers on the other side?"

"Tyler is going to come after you, especially if he can see the ghosts. Y/N, seriously, I can't let you out of this van if you're going to die in that park in front of the Door of Orpheus. Do you understand?" He said is so heavy, I could almost hear how tight his chest had gotten.

"C'mon, with everything falling down around me, I'd like to believe in the possibility that everything will be okay. But if anything does happen, Simon, I'm glad I'll be by your side."

Simon clenched his jaw in determination. "Likewise, Y/N."

"And to your left," Eleo called in her best announcer voice some time later. "Central Park."

~

I didn't know if it was just the fact that the sun hadn't yet risen, but Central Park seemed colder to me. Morning joggers made their way past, a drunken man stumbled along the grass. The cluster of rocks that was the Door of Orpheus suddenly looked more eerie, like if I were to approach it it might harm me in some way.

I looked away as Fabia helped me from the van, Simon handed me my crutch. Standing up hurt, but not as much as the pothole had. For a moment I just stood there, looking at the park, turning up my music, changing the song. Eleo dropped off a small and heavy black trunk I hadn't seen before to the ground at my feet, said a quick goodbye, and once she was gone the sun had finally drifted over the horizon.

Immediately as if rehearsed, Simon and Fabia took the silver barricades from their spot along the walkway, and began hauling them towards the rock cluster. Simon seemed almost surprised to see the legionary helping. As fast as I could (which wasn't very) I hobbled after them.

"Simon, what are those for?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Right, sorry, didn't tell you. We're filming a movie, and we don't want any unwanted people coming too close into frame and ruining the shot." I furrowed my brows, at a loss of words for a second. When I understood what he meant, I said, "But we don't have a camera."

He motioned towards the black trunk Eleo had left behind that had been stashed somewhere in the back of the truck, then continued away with the metal bars. I'd help, but obviously I couldn't, and maybe that's why Fabia was. Anyway, I admired Simon's plan. Making a movie wasn't uncommon in New York, and barricading made it more real. That and having a real camera. Granted, we wouldn't have someone to operate it, but that was an easy enough lie to tell. The ghosts that people couldn't see would appear as CGI inserts that would be added in post production (shut up, I watched a lot of the behind the scenes documentaries), and any wounds earned would appear as good acting and makeup. I just hoped the mist configured to this story, and wouldn't show swords as pool noodles that somehow leave gashes. This movie set up would stop authorities (granted they didn't ask for a permit, though I wouldn't be surprised if Simon had somehow acquired a fake one), and any mortals close to the battle wouldn't get hurt. It was perfect.

More people showed up within the next hour. Having set up the camera and our boundary between the rest of park and the Door of Orpheus, there wasn't much to do but wait. Fabia promised to be quick, but she hesitated for a while before going in, making sure I was okay. While waiting, I felt my heart sink into my stomach. I was the only one to account for my dream with Matt telling me what Tyler was planning, and maybe I was mistaken. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I was Henry. Simon grabbed my hand and squeezed it, noticing how tense I was. I pressed my iPod nano against the cluster of rocks and Fabia ducked inside, vial of cure ready to go. Turns out it needed to be boiled. Something about fire and the hydra venom. Once cooled, and by now it was, any amount of it mixed into the Lethe would do the trick. I put the headphones back in my ears and slowly sat down with my back against the rocks.

Music blaring, I almost missed the grand entrance. I pulled the earbuds out when Simon tapped me. He helped me stand, and I leaned against my crutch, trying to look as intimidating as possible. I didn't know how well I was succeeding, seeing as a hoard of about thirty-odd demigods marched towards me brave-faced and battle ready in full armour and weaponry. My stomach did a flip when Tyler greeted me with a smile, not at all surprised.

Why would I have expected him to be? Caleb would have told him the second I turned up at camp, and maybe they knew of our leaving because Tiana hadn't done the best job of guarding the door, and he told him we'd be here, too. I should have anticipated this.

Simon must have been thinking the same thing. We didn't startle him. That being said, we still had the upper hand, granted the souls of the recently dead would listen to me. We still had the element of surprise. I recalled how much energy it took for me to use my powers, like shadow travelling. I wondered if calling these souls, forcing them to me, if that could be considered a power and not just a command they'd listen to, would drain me as well.

And then, none of that mattered.

When he got closer, enough so that two of the demigods he was with peeled back the boundaries to let the army through, I spotted Matt walking behind him. Something that looked eerily like a dagger was pressed against the back of his neck, reflecting sun into my eyes. I swallowed. I heard gasps of passersby, probably enthused by the arrival of the other 'actors', but I didn't pay them any heed.

"Let him go." I'd never sounded so sure of myself in my life, yet here I was, clutching my abdomen in one hand and a crutch in the other, standing taller than I ever had before. "Let Matt go."

Matt locked his big brown eyes onto me, jaw tight with panic. The burn tissue on the left of his face and down his neck seemed agitated; inflamed. Despite everything Caleb had done, perhaps he wasn't lying about Matt not telling me the whole truth.

Tyler smiled at me, skin as pale as ever. He held the multi-ironed sword at his side. I watched his finger twitch against the hilt, like he was itching to walk forward and finish me off. He was thirty feet away now, and the demigods who had opened the barricade had the generosity of closing it. Even on opposite sides I think most demigods agreed that this was a fight between us, not mortals.

Most demigods, but not Tyler. His hair had grown longer in the mere days since I'd seen him, tangling just above his ear in an awkward wave.

"Y/N, good to see you, sister." He said the word like it was venomous. His real sister had been killed, then her ghost slain by a demigod not unlike me. Yet using that word, sister, like we were family, like I had anything in common with him, like I had disgraced him... It made me mad.

"Let Matt go." I said more forceful now. Matt's jaw was still tight. I worried if he were to say something the demigod with the dagger to his neck would hurt him. It was my words against him. Simon probably had a dozen plans working around in his mind, but he stayed silent, waiting on me. My fight, my call, my chance to make things right.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'm upset, truly. I'd hoped a blow from my sword would have killed you. Although, I am happy to see you with a crutch, at least. But let me make this simple for you: I can't kill you, but I can kill your friend over there. Simon, isn't it?"

"Kopros." Simon spat an ancient Greek curse word I'm not going to translate.

"Pleasure." Tyler replied, unfazed. That was another thing that pissed me off. He didn't seem to care. "Anyway, Y/N, I gave you a choice. You chose to save yourself over Matt. And now, he's part of my team."

The short, muscular blonde demigod holding the dagger to Matt's neck pushed him roughly forward so he was standing on par with Tyler. Tyler made an event to show us his left forearm, where a tattoo I had long forgotten about sat black and more clear. I'd never seen the symbol before; it seemed to start with a hill that rolled down into a valley. From the valley came a sceptre of sorts, that wound it's way up to a semi-circle with a dot. All of it drawn in a series of lines with no detail.

The blonde demigod pulled Matt's orange shirt collar down, and I felt my heart pound harder. It had barely been hidden by the shirt, but there, on both normal skin and the scar tissue on the left side of his neck was the same symbol that was on Tyler's arm. Only this wasn't a tattoo - it was a brand, still red and puffy and definitely the cause of the irritated scar tissue around it. I looked back up at Matt. His eyes were watery and he was looking away.

I wanted to scream. They'd branded him. A constant reminder that at any second they could hurt him. He'd have to do whatever they said. As I scanned the crowd I noticed more tattoos of the same design. Some were on shoulders, ankles, wrists, anywhere. A lot were even hidden by the fabrics of their clothes or their Greek armour.

"After all," Tyler commented. "I needed someone to help me distract Hades."

SECOND CROSSROADS:

CHOICE ONE - CALL ON THE GHOST ARMY, WE CAN STOP HIM BEFORE HE EVEN GETS A CHANCE TO GO INTO THE UNDERWORLD. THEY CAN GET MATT.

CHOICE TWO - "THEN I'LL DO IT. I'LL HELP YOU DISTRACT OUR DAD."

CHOICE CHAPTERS/INTERACTIVE CHAPTERS WILL BE PUBLISHED ON THE SAME DAY. PICK A CHOICE, AND FOLLOW IT THROUGH.


	16. FOURTEEN: Choice One

"You're done distracting Hades." I replied, but my voice began to waver. "I have someone in the Underworld right now, about to pour the cure for your poison into the Lethe. And once Hades is no longer distracted by that problem and the furies can start pulling the souls back to drink, you won't have the upper hand of going into the Underworld undetected. He'll stop you, even if I can't."

"Who knows if Fabia will ever get there? Surprised I know who it is, are you? We have two demigods in there already, filling us in, ready to stop her."

Simon looked over at me. Two steps ahead. Tyler was always two steps ahead, sword always at the ready. But if I could just keep him from bringing that god killer into the Underworld long enough for Fabia to fend those demigods off and cure the Lethe, setting everything into motion... And my sure-fire way to do that might also get Matt out of harms way.

"Now." Simon whispered to me, hand tight on the hilt of his own sword. I nodded.

I hoped all this would take was a call. If it was anything like stopping the Underworld, all I'd need would by my voice. I leaned against the crutch, and looking Tyler right in the eyes, I said: "Well, it's a good thing we both have an army."

Tyler furrowed his brows as genuine confusion flooded into his face.

"Spirits of the recently deceased!" I cried. "Join me in arms!"

I wasn't sure what to expect, but for some reason Simon had a hand pressed into my shoulder. I looked around, but didn't see any ghosts anywhere. Tyler's confused expression faded away to a smirk. All he'd need was music and he could open the doors and walk right in with Matt and his army. We wouldn't stand a chance. I felt light headed, and realized very quickly that Simon's hand was there supporting me as I leaned haphazardly towards him.

I swallowed. If Simon was the only one who could fight between us, would I let him try and fight Tyler? Stop him from entering the Underworld? It was useless. With Tyler's sword he wouldn't stand a chance. But that meant letting Matt go...

Suddenly, the wind picked up. But it wasn't wind, per se. It was like a dozen people had exhaled against the back of my neck, and swept my hair forward. I turned around, straining the wound in my abdomen enough that it hurt, but I didn't turn back yet. Appearing from thin air were people of all ages, dressed in white.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. There was the man in the white tracksuit, the thirty eight year old African woman in white overalls, the forty-something year old married woman with the white headband, the small girl with the big black curly hair and glasses... Every 'hallucination' I'd had since Monday, anyone and everyone who'd come to me since after the Lethe had been closed for business, all here. All ready to help. There were at least fifty, if not more. New faces blended with the ones I'd met before. They didn't have weapons, but something told me they wouldn't need them.

"I see dead people!" A kid cried from outside the barricade, met with an unbelieving mother's "I'm sure you do."

"Are they here?" Simon asked.

As I gently turned myself back to face him and Tyler's army, the opposing demigod answered for me, with some additional colourful language. "They're here."

I realized very quickly and very happily that he and I were the only demigods who could see them. With the army of the dead on my side, we could quickly subdue and incapacitate the army of the living. We wouldn't even have to hurt anyone.

"GO!" I cried, a guttural yell like the one I'd made when I had stopped the entirety of the Underworld. I'd grabbed onto Simon this time, needing both him and my crutch to hold myself up. Everything was going well. Everything was working out, finally. Who would care if I sat down and took a nap right now?

Simon sucked in a breath. I looked up, at the colliding armies. The ghosts looked less like ghosts and more like people to me, so where I could hardly see the other army, Simon would have been able to only see them. Soon, I thought I'd understood why he'd inhaled so sharply.

Even though the demigods couldn't see the spirits, they were fighting the air wildly. And it appeared that despite the ghosts being able to see the half-bloods just fine, they had no clue what they were doing. Some of the older ones managed to knock a demigod out, but the others stood idly by and backed away from the swinging swords and pointed arrows.

No. No, no, no. The fight was fixed. The war was over. The good guys lost.

I felt Simon try to pull away from me, but I kept him close. He was my support, and I couldn't let him join a losing fight, could I? But I followed his eye line to see what made him so eager to join the battle.

And then I heard the singing. A gentle, sweet tune sung by the same girl with arrows from the Underworld at our first encounter. She stood with her arrow pointed at her army, obviously daring a ghost to cross her path. She stood with her back to the Door, and Tyler had taken over the role of holding a weapon to Matt's throat, waiting patiently as the rocks pulled away so he could duck inside.

"Stop him!" I tried, but my voice hold no power, and the dead did not heed my command. My breathing quickened. How could things have gone so wrong, so fast? No! I'd made the wrong choice. I should have done something else. But now it was too late for that, I had to figure something else out.

Simon looked at me pleadingly. He could see my inability to breathe, the pain I was in, but he said, "Let me go."

Matt was already in harms way of the god killer, one cut, no matter how small, would kill him. That was one friend more than I was willing to let be in that position. I wasn't about to let Simon be there too.

I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breath, thinking. I could hear the other army cry out, asking if they should follow. The archer had stopped singing though, and the doors had closed. They were all very obviously anxious about the army they couldn't see that was taking demigods out one by one, and that would keep them occupied for now. But Tyler was heading to Hades, and although without his army he lost some valuable backup and distraction, it gave him an advantage.

"Shadow travel." I said.

Simon looked at me like I was insane.

"Y/N, you can't. Our plan backfired, you're exhausted, you need to rest. I can fight him. I'm going to fight him."

Simon didn't understand that he wouldn't get there in time, or that if he did I couldn't let anything happen to him. That sword could only be used on one person; the one who couldn't die. I surveyed the area. It was barely past noon, so shadows were small. I looked down at my feet where one was, a small dark blob that made up me, and a second beside me where Simon stood.

I dropped the crutch to grab my abdomen with that hand. With the free hand, I grabbed Simon's hand and began to fall forward.

"Y/N!" He cried, moving to catch me. We tumbled into shadows.

It was like I was moving in hyper speed, somersaulting through darkness at a million miles per hour. At times I felt like Simon's hand was falling from mine, and I gripped it tighter. In the shadows my wounds seemed to be without pain, but as soon as we rolled out onto the hard marble floor I clutched my abdomen in pain, wheezing, face scrunched up in pain. I lay there, curled up, for way too long before it had calmed down. My hands were tingly, and I couldn't feel my fingers. My face was wet. When I started to become aware of things other than my own pain, I found we were inside of what must have been Hades' palace. As I slowed my breathing, I let Simon gently help me to my feet despite my constant groans. He wrapped one arm around my shoulders, and held his sword in his right hand. We were in a side corridor or something. We had to get to the throne room.

"Are you okay?" Simon looked shaken, but pressed on.

My body felt like it was on fire. My lungs weren't expanding as much as I needed them too. I was so dizzy I could hear the blood rushing past my ears.

"I'm good," I said, and did my best to limp quickly with his help to the throne room. Had to get there quick. Had to stop Tyler, had to stop Matt. Had to - ow.


	17. FOURTEEN: Choice Two

"Then I'll do it." I said quickly.

"What?" Tyler asked, for a second his guard had dropped.

"Yeah," Simon whispered harshly. "What?"

"I'll help you distract our dad."

Matt's eyes widened. After being shown the brand, Tyler had resumed a position of holding Matt's elbow and pressing the four-metal blade to his throat. I swallowed. I wasn't a fighter, but I was a talker. I had to convince him to let me take Matt's place. Simon could take Matt back to camp, and I'd figure the rest out as I went.

Tyler chuckled for a moment. "You had your chance, Y/N. But Matt's the best offer on the table right now. He can get the job done."

"You're right." I said, flinching away from Simon's side as he tried to grab my arm. He'd understand. "Hades deserves what's coming to him. Sure, Matt might - might - be able to sidetrack him for a second. So? You'd get one clean cut, not enough to do what you're planning. Me? He trusts me to stop you. If I show up at your side, if I tell him why I'm fighting against him, that'll distract him a whole lot more than Matt."

Tyler furrowed his brows. In my peripheral vision I saw Simon shift his gaze from me to him. He understood. He knew what I was trying to do, and even if he didn't like it he was going to help.

Tyler's smirk returned, like he'd thought up something clever.

"And why, pray tell, are you fighting against him, Y/N?" He asked. His eyes, pupils of two different sizes, sized me up. "Convince me."

I was a talker. I had my own grievances with my godly parent. I pushed them away to help him on this quest, I pushed them away so I could fight Tyler. But everyone hates their godly parent, and I had reasons. So I talked.

"He knew I was schizophrenic. My whole life I thought I was insane. My mom worked so many jobs, we went so far into debt, for no reason. He never cared about my mom, not even before she was," I choked. Clutching my abdomen, I continued. "Dead. The god of death, unable to bring my mom back to me, unable to save her from a horrible fate. He never loved my mom. He doesn't love me. If he did, he wouldn't have sent me to do his dirty work. And even now, as I stand before you, in pain from wounds only a god can cure, he is nowhere to be found."

I felt tears prick my eyes. Not a single word had been a lie. Not a single one.

"Do you need me to go on?" I asked.

Tyler exhaled. "Let's go, then."

I blinked. I pushed forward on my crutch, getting closer. The army was so silent behind him I wondered just hoe he demanded his respect. "Just us." I added, inching closer, holding my bandaged wound tight.

Tyler furrowed his brows.

"Just us? No."

I stopped. "Think about it. If it's just you and I, we can shadow travel directly into Hades' throne room. That's where you were headed anyway, isn't it? He's probably there right now. We get there faster, and I can control the whole Underworld, so we don't have to worry about anything except him."

"You underestimate me." He dropped the god killer from Matt's throat, and I watched Matt exhale hard, looking at me with wide eyes. "You don't think I fully believe you, do I? Of course I think you have your own score to settle with good old dad, but you just want to save your friend. Which is why both of your friends are coming with us."

I noticed that even though Matt was safe from the four-metal blade, he hadn't dared to flinch or even speak. Tyler held his elbow tight. I wanted to argue. I wanted them to go back to camp and be safe. But Tyler would just take Matt into the Underworld if I said anything like that. I rubbed my thumb and my forefinger together as I clutched my abdomen. Music. I wish I could just listen to music.

I settled for this. "I don't trust you either not to send your soldiers in after us. Spirits of the recently deceased!" I cried. "Join me in arms!"

I felt light headed, and realized very quickly that Simon had run over and his hand was there supporting me as I leaned haphazardly backwards towards him.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. But it wasn't wind, per se. It was like a dozen people had exhaled against the back of my neck, and swept my hair forward. I craned my neck, straining the wound in my abdomen enough that it hurt, but I didn't turn back yet. Appearing from thin air were people of all ages, dressed in white.

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. There was the man in the white tracksuit, the thirty eight year old African woman in white overalls, the forty-something year old married woman with the white headband, the small girl with the big black curly hair and glasses... Every 'hallucination' I'd had since Monday, anyone and everyone who'd come to me since after the Lethe had been closed for business, all here. All ready to help. There were at least fifty, if not more. New faces blended with the ones I'd met before. They didn't have weapons, but something told me they wouldn't need them.

"I see dead people!" A kid cried from outside the barricade, met with an unbelieving mother's "I'm sure you do."

"Are they here?" Simon asked.

As I gently turned myself back to face him and Tyler's army, the opposing demigod answered for me, with some additional colourful language. "They're here."

I realized very quickly and very happily that he and I were the only demigods who could see them. With the army of the dead on my side, we could quickly subdue and incapacitate the army of the living. We wouldn't even have to hurt anyone, and they wouldn't be able to follow us. Fabia would get to the Lethe soon, very soon. With that problem fixed Hades could focus his soul attention on Tyler. I didn't question how he knew Hades would be in the throne room, and then I realized maybe I should. Crap. He probably had demigods already down there; demigods ready to stop Fabia.

I pushed the thought aside.

"Block them." I told the ghosts, who proceeded to form a wall around the living army. I figured that would do it.

We wouldn't even need the Door of Orpheus with four people. Simon helped me over to Tyler with a clenched jaw and a nervous expression. He hadn't wanted to go to the Underworld before, and he didn't now, and although reluctant I knew he wouldn't leave my side. When I got close enough Tyler grabbed my wrist with the hand with the hilt of his sword in it. Simon ducked back just in time to miss getting hit in the face by the blade.

"Watch it!"

"Don't speak. I'll kill you." Tyler replied. Simon shuffled closer next to me. I just wanted this to be over. Without warning we fell back into Tyler's albeit small shadow, and tumbled into the darkness. It was like I was moving in hyper speed, somersaulting through darkness at a million miles per hour. At times I felt like Simon's hand was falling from mine, and I gripped it tighter. In the shadows my wounds seemed to be without pain, but as soon as we rolled out onto the hard marble floor I clutched my abdomen in pain, wheezing, face scrunched up in pain. I lay there, curled up, with Simon kneeling at my side.

"Stand." Tyler said quickly. I bit my tongue.

"Give her a minute." Simon replied, looking to Matt for help. But Matt was too busy watching Tyler, as if he was waiting for the sword to turn on him.

"We don't have a minute." Tyler replied. "Y/N you get up now, or Matteo won't be so lucky to see the god of death."

Simon moved to argue. I swallowed. Heaving, I used Simon to help climb to my feet. My crutch was gone, and I needed to rely on my tall blond friend to get me to where we had to be. My face was wet with tears but I did my best to stop crying.

"Hades is in there. You go in first, and distract him. Don't forget what happens if you don't. Do you understand."

I couldn't put my headphones in at a time like this, so I relied on memory to recount the songs I listened to when I needed to do something scary. I looked at Matt, nodded at Tyler, and let Simon slowly walk me through the throne room doors.


	18. FIFTEEN: Give Us A Little Love

Nothing went remotely how I thought it would. Not at all.

When I limped with the help of my friend into the throne room of my father, I was painfully aware that we were the only three in there. Hades had been busy recently, so much so it appeared he was nursing a wicked headache. Thirteen feet tall, even sitting on his throne, he towered over Simon and I. I clutched my abdomen tight, Hades noticed us and glanced up.

"Have you failed me?" He asked.

I faltered. Whatever I was going to do, I suddenly found it very hard to find my voice. If he couldn't sense Fabia pursuing her course to the Lethe, I wondered how foggy his mind was. I had no doubt he had stretched to his limits searching for and collecting as many souls as he could on Earth, and I didn't think I'd done him any favours by calling upon an army of them. That was his job; get the ghosts. Me? Cure the Lethe. And I wasn't even sure if that was happening - I didn't know where Fabia was. I thought... I'd hoped she'd have gotten there by now. Cure the Lethe, and Hades' mind might clear as well. And then he could help stop Tyler.

Yet immediately upon my arrival, have you failed me.

Tyler and Simon were not in the throne room. I didn't know when to expect their arrival. I didn't know how much time I had before something went sour. But then I must have been standing there too long, and the doors to the throne room swung open behind us. Tyler made his way in, sword poised gently under Matt's scarred chin.

Crap.

Hades stood then, but stumbled. Yes, this had all taken a very big toll on him. Tyler locked eyes with me, and shook his head. Simon grabbed my hand. Tyler ushered a silent Matt towards the god of death himself, stopping only at the same distance from the throne as us, but across the room. This wasn't how he'd wanted it to go down. He didn't have the element of surprise nor his army, and I was here. But he had Matt by his side, his backup plan, and he was at his command. And Matt was powerful. Powerful enough to hypnotize a god? We had yet to see. Hades was certainly out of it enough that it might be possible. He didn't even call on his army to defend him. He didn't even brandish a weapon.

Was he — no. No. He was waiting on me to defend him. Me, in this state.

The gods were blind. I couldn't move, I should have been dead, yet he still waited for me to defend him. I got a sick feeling in my stomach, like for a second I actually fully and completely wanted Tyler to succeed.

"Hades." Tyler smiled coyly, falling unflatteringly into a mock bow. As he went down Matt looked at me, and then at Simon. I furrowed my brows. He was scared. But no, I felt Simon nod beside me. A message had been relayed. A message I had missed.

Suddenly Simon pushed away from me. It was so sudden I didn't even have a chance to try and hold myself up. I yelped as I hit the marble floor, cursed, and held my abdomen tight. I moved to ask Simon what the hell that was for, when I stopped.

Simon brushed past me, and walked straight up to Tyler. I'd almost missed his jaw tighten.

"Hey, dirt bag," Simon called. If the goal was to surprise Hades, he'd done it. It might have even been a chance for Tyler to use the god killer on him. Yet Hades wasn't the only one who was surprised, or better, distracted. Tyler was so shocked by Simon's sudden outburst, he'd released his grip on Matt and swung the multi-ironed sword towards Simon, who expertly jumped out of its reach (and just in time, I had inhaled so hard in that moment I'd hurt my abdomen even worse).

"If you try anything, you could die." Tyler offered easily.

"Behind you." Simon commented. Tyler knit his brows together, and turned back to face the son of Hypnos.

I watched Matt regain his posture. The Matt that I was familiar with tracked his way back behind his eyes, and for the first time in a while I heard him speak. This time, with power behind his words. More powerful than the very first time I'd heard him, when he'd controlled all three harpies. A phrase I'd mustered once before, yet had never seen enacted upon by anyone but myself.

"STOP."

Without any hesitation, Tyler froze. It was as if I were watching a movie, and this was a freeze frame. Tyler had stopped - but he'd stopped everything. I realized with a start that that in turn had stopped his chest from rising and falling. Matt noticed it too, eyes wide. We weren't killers; we weren't like Tyler in that sense.

"No, no," he snapped in Tyler's face. But that reduced our victory to nothing, and fast.

Then everything happened at once.

I saw Hades straighten out, and knew instantly that Fabia had accomplished her task. One less thing on Hades' mind, pulling him from the grogginess. His job had been to get the ghosts, yes, but without the Lethe being fully operational, he couldn't keep them there. It was a vicious cycle of catch and release. But now?

He snapped his fingers. As my army of ghosts from above descended into the throne room, though, Tyler had gotten back into the swing of things, and judging on Matt's face, he'd used too much of his powers to even attempt anything else. Simon pulled a collapsable dagger from his pocket to deflect the first hit from the sword, and resumed position between Tyler and Matt. They were in the centre of the throne room, Hades at the back guarded by ghosts familiar and unfamiliar that were appearing and disappearing to the Lethe at his will. I was closer to the doors, with no ghosts between me and the boys. Each time the multi-ironed sword his Simon's celestial bronze dagger, a piece of it chipped away. His small weapon wouldn't last long, and if I wasn't wrong the rest of the weapons he'd brought were back outside the door.

Matt couldn't fight for himself. Simon was about to lose his weapon, and if he did Tyler could get a clean cut in on him. I looked to my dad, surely he'd do something - call on his armies, tell a ghost or seven to help, something.

He didn't look over.

With a defiant roar (read: wheeze) I pulled myself to my feet. Too distracted by combat, my friends did not look over. I couldn't walk on my own; I could barely limp. I hobbled towards them.

Chink, and a piece broke.

Chink, and another.

Chink, it would break soon.

"Simon!" I yelled as Tyler used two hands to slash his sword downwards. As it came into contact with the dagger, the celestial bronze fractured into a million pieces as though it were made from glass. If I hadn't used all of the force I could muster to jump out and reach my arm forward, Simon would have been toast. As it was, my hand collided with the sword.

I screamed bloody murder as I fell to the floor, holding my hand tight but knowing my abdomen would need attention too. Tyler had been taken aback, but not for long.

I don't know how, but when I looked at Simon and Matt and wished they would be anywhere but here, it worked. It was like a shadow had grown from nowhere and consumed them, and they were gone from the throne room. Tyler brought his sword down on what was now empty space. The momentum drove him forward so he fell forward.

"FABIA!" I tried. The same shadow that had consumed my friends appeared again, and this time spat out my warrior. Before Tyler could stand up, Fabia was upon him, sporting new cuts of her own from whatever she went through to get to the Lethe. At this point the battle wasn't much of a battle anymore. Fabia was trained to disarm, and I gave her full rein to do so. Tyler was tired. Tyler had lost. Fabia used the stick of her spear to whack him in the wrist, and the god killer clattered to the floor embarrassingly. Fabia kicked it away, and stabbed the pointy part under Tyler's chin. Roles reverse. Battle won. My hand pulsed and in turn prompted my abdomen and furthermore my arm to do the same.

"M'lady, may I—"

I never heard the end of her question. I fell from sitting to lying down as the world grew soundless and my sight disappeared.

~

Strawberries. I smelled strawberries. The sweet fragrance made my nose twitch, and I slowly opened my eyes. I was in my favourite place; the camp infirmary. Only this time I was alone. Same was not beside my bed. Fabia was not standing at the foot of it, guarding me. No other demigod was in the room.

Out of instinct, before I moved at all I gently put my hand against my abdomen. Then I realized that the hand I had used to do so had a cut of its own. Then I realized that at some point, the pain should have hit me.

It never did.

Besides a dull headache, I was fine. I gave myself the once over, but my sickly green cut had healed, my abdomen was no longer a torn mess, and it was as though nothing had happened to my hand.

"You did not." I heard a man say. I sat up quick. In front of me where Fabia more often than not would have stood, Hades was staring down at me. He was six feet tall now, and in a black and grey pinstripe suit as opposed to his usual garments.

I swallowed, pressing my thumb and forefinger together. "I did not what?" I asked.

"You did not fail me."

I wondered how a god being at camp hadn't sparked the interest of any demigods or the old Chiron himself, when I realized that this was merely a dream. I was at camp, sure, but Hades was not.

"In turn, I have healed you."

He was watching me. Waiting for a thank you, no doubt. Although I had yet to ask what had happened after I'd collapsed, I couldn't stop thinking about why Tyler was there in the first place. The gods didn't care. I thought back on how in the throne room he just stood there, conducting his own business with no cares towards his daughter and son in the room. I recalled Tyler's valid points; Hades knew I was schizophrenic. Hades didn't care about my mom. Hades didn't even heal me until I'd done what he'd asked.

"I went through hell for you." I told him. He furrowed his brows. He was expecting praise, not this. "Yet you barely cared about me. Is this all demigods are to the gods?" I asked. "Pawns? My friends could have died; I was dying. And all you did was wonder if I'd failed you. You kept secrets from me - ones that could have saved my mom."

"I am a god."

"Then you must understand why Tyler started all of this." I said. This time Hades stayed silent. I shook my head.

"Give us a little love." I told him. "We're your children, something happened between you and our parents for us to exist, yet you seem to not care at all. You show us no love, no sympathy, no signs that you're there. Give us a little love, because from you we never had enough."

Hades got a far off look in his eyes. I was confused. He looked almost... sad.

"When I make connections with my children, bad things happen to them."

"Yet you ask us to do your bidding anyway. And look where that's gotten you." I had no fear of the god smiting me anymore. He was listening.

"It's another time. It's another day." I continued. "Whatever happening in the past? You need to trust it won't happen, or stop it from happening, or accept it. Because the way you're going, I won't be surprised if the uprise returns."

"I will try. Can't you see I'm trying?"

I took a deep breath. "So what happened."

For a second it looked like Hades was about to shrug me off. Tell me all was well and not to worry about it or something. Then he straightened his shoulders.

"I called all the ghosts who were out of place and returned them to the Underworld. I sent them to the Lethe. But I noticed you were calling on strength you did not have. I helped you teleport your friends to safety, pulled my soldier from her place beside the river to your side. That was with my help." He continued quickly, before I could say anything. "My legionary has temporarily put Tyler in the Fields of Punishment."

"Temporarily? And what about his army? The ghosts you pulled down to the Underworld were blocking them."

"Tyler is still my son, and he is still living. A week and a week only in the Fields of Punishment will teach him something. After this, he is to be sent to trial with Zeus." I looked down, eyebrows raised. That was harsh on anyone, and although Tyler hadn't succeeded in much, yet he would pay for the crime. "The army fled. They have no leader now. It will be a while before we see them again."

I didn't know what to say next.

"My mom?" I asked softly.

"I owe you, Y/N," he said so un-godlike. "Your mother will be rewarded with the finest palace in the Fields of Elysium. She was a good woman, and that was one of the reasons I fell in love with her. And although you are right that there were some things I could have shared, you also much understand that gods do not have audiences with their children. Do not expect another conversation with me - but do note that I will be watching over you. This does not mean you can be reckless. You are still a hero, and heroes must do things on their own. Do you understand?"

Yet before I could answer, he was gone, and I was waking up back on the bed.

"It's okay." I heard Matt say.

"It'll be okay if you let me bandage you up. Matteo, come on." Terra replied.

"I'm used to burns." He replied in a small voice.

"Matt," Simon said sadly. I cleared my throat, and all three heads in the room turned to face me. It was like a race had begun and they were late to the starting line, because immediately Terra ran from the side of Matt's bed to the left side of mine, Matt jumped up and spun around to me, and Simon stood beside Terra.

"How's your head? Your wounds are healed but do they still hurt? I gave you a check but your reflexes while you were sleeping seemed sluggish did you get hurt somewhere I can't see? How many fingers?" I cut the daughter of Apollo off before she could get through any more of her questions.

"Hurts but not a lot. They don't hurt. Not to my knowledge. Two."

"Okay but—"

"Terra, please. Go tell Chiron I'm awake."

Oh. As she left I remembered the terms I left off on with the horse man. I wondered how he'd react to me now, knowing I was right. I wondered what had become of Caleb, if anything. Would Chiron punish me for going? Would he punish my friends?

"Are you guys okay?" I asked, sitting up with my back against the wall.

"Are you?" Simon replied. I pursed my lips. "Okay, fine, horrified, actually. That whole shadow travel thing? Not a fan. But no, I'm okay."

"Me too." Matt replied, looking at me from over on his own bed. He wasn't wearing a shirt, obviously to make it easier for Terra to see his brand. I looked at it, red and still irritated. Matt noticed, and for a fleeting moment I thought it would be just like when I met him; constantly hiding that side of him until he got comfortable with me. But he just frowned.

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore - but it won't be able to come off. I asked. I'll be walking around camp with a symbol of traitors carved into me."

Simon shrugged. "I think it's important. A memory. Albeit not the best one, but a memory from the day the three of us saved a god. A big quest. Together."

Matt grinned, but didn't meet my eyes.

"What happened after you made us disappear?" Matt asked next.

I opened my mouth to answer; tell them what Hades had told me. But before I could, the door to the infirmary swung open once more and Chiron himself ducked under the doorframe to join us. He had a basket of freshly-picked strawberries, no doubt that's where he just was. I straightened. Not new to me, I couldn't read his face. Would he yell at me? Give me kitchen duty for a month? Or would he say I was right?

"Y/N," He nodded at me. "I must apologize."

Simon and Matt made a move to leave and give us some privacy. Chiron stopped them.

"No, stay. These two have filled me in on what they could," the centaur told me, "And it appears the call you made was the best one. Accusing someone of being a traitor is a serious accusation, and given the account of our in-camp medical professional talking about your supposed schizophrenia... I needed to investigate before I could get to a concrete conclusion. Alas, in the morning you were gone, and so was Caleb. You were right, on all accounts, and you three saved Hades, despite me telling you two not to go. For that, I must apologize."

I nodded. "It's okay. I was doubting myself for a while there, too." I replied. Simon put a hand on my shoulder. His blond hair, not in a bun now, cascaded past his shoulders. It had grown since we'd been here.

"However," Chiron adapted a sterner voice. "Kitchen duty for the three of you for two weeks, and you are never to leave camp again to be a hero unless you're chosen for a quest. Understood?"

"Yes, Chiron." I replied.

"All of you."

"Yes, Chiron," Matt and Simon joined in.

Chiron smiled. His warm eyes crinkled with light. He put the strawberry basket down on the bed beside where Matt had sat back down.

"Enjoy these. Tonight, festivities!"


	19. SIXTEEN: Roll Away Your Stone

At dinner, Simon, Matt and I sat at the head table with Chiron. We'd each been gifted gold laurels to wear around our heads. The welcome we received had not been what I was expecting. Everyone had cheered and congratulated us. A few told me I'd surprised them, and some said they'd known all along that I could do it. Tiana and Eleo stayed close by after we'd left the dining pavilion.

Chiron led us towards Fireworks Beach, where some of the Hephaestus cabin had set up a whole display. Usually the celebration tracked down to the amphitheatre, as I'd been told. But on this special occasion, sing-along and the rest of the festivities would continue on the beach.

The fireworks display was incredible. Hephaestus-made fireworks erupted in a variety of shapes and sizes, a trio exploding to show mine, Simon, and Matt's faces, followed by another trio of our godly parent's signs colouring the night sky. Terra led the sing along, which I did take part in. All three of the camp harpies came around to dish out some fancy looking deserts. Terra decided to open the floor to anyone who wanted to lead a song, but regretted it when Greg Giovani, a fifteen-year-old new camper and child of Hermes, planted his feet firm in the sand and began an hour long stand-up comedy routine he had totally stolen from a real comedian on tv.

In all honesty, as much fun as I was having with Simon and Matt, I just wanted the party to be over. I wanted to crawl back into a warm bed that was my own, in my own cabin, and I wanted Matt to send me into a dreamless sleep so I wouldn't have to think nor dream of this quest. It was over. That was that.

~

That week, every morning, Matt and I would wake up at six o'clock at the persistence of Terra and join some of the others for support group.

"Why are you still here?" One of the campers wondered. They hadn't meant it to sound so abrupt, I could tell by the way they sank into their chair afterwards. "I just mean, you don't have schizophrenia, right?"

"No, you're right." I replied. "I don't have schizophrenia. But I do still have a lot of grief to cover, and other problems to get over. Demigods are expected to be strong, always. Unless you have a label, like PTSD, or schizophrenia. But you don't need to always be strong. Even if you're just a typical, everyday demigod, it's okay not to feel alright sometimes. There's still a lot I have to do before I'll be alright. Sometimes it's good to just listen."

Matt grinned at me.

Terra, as new support group leader because of Caleb's absence, had admitted that she was better on external injuries as opposed to internal. I told Chiron I wanted to learn how to be a psychiatrist, and that when I learned enough I could take over for Terra. He promised that when school started after summer he'd enrol me somewhere.

Then, it was Friday. I had yet to see what we would do while the rest of the camp divvied up into groups and played Capture the Flag. Terra had told me that if I really wanted to, I was allowed to play, even if for my first time I would be mostly watching. She cleared me for use of a weapon and said I could start lessons for it on Monday. I turned down both offers. I didn't want to play that game. I didn't want to learn how to fight with a weapon. I was perfectly fine doing what I'd always done (though Terra told me I had to stop putting in my headphones and pretending most of my problems didn't exist, and to stop shutting down instead of talking about the quest and what happened on it).

At midday, Terra came around and collected all the demigods from support group from whatever activities we were at, and led us to the Big House. Matt turned to me.

"Capture the Flag. We don't get to participate, but we do get to help plan it."

"How do you plan a game of Capture the Flag?" I asked. "Don't they just go to opposite ends of the woods and try to... Capture a flag?"

"Traps." Victor of the Nike cabin told me.

"Special monsters." Amy from the Hecate cabin added.

"Fun times." Matt replied. "I don't care much for planning it, but technically it's a mandatory activity for us, and we get snacks. I'm not complaining"

"OH!" I smiled. "I almost forgot. Terra we'll be right back."

"Wait, no, don't—"

But I was already pulling Matt up the Big House porch into Chiron's office. He'd given me special permission to put the surprise in here, as long as I didn't leave it overnight, in which case he'd be forced to eat it himself. I'd gotten Tiana and Eleo to help me make it, and while Tiana proved an asset in the Big House's kitchen, Eleo seemed to be doing more of mess-making then helping. All in all, it had turned out perfect. A thank you, better than any verbal saying or purchased present.

I grinned as Matt's eyes lit up.

"Pumpkin pie!" He said eagerly.

"Not stingy though, there's cinnamon sprinkled on top." I added. The biggest spoons I could find (just small enough that I couldn't call them shovels) rested on the desk beside the pie, still warm from being baked this morning.

"I can't believe you remembered it was my favourite." Matt shook his head, taking a seat and motioning for me to do the same beside him. "But why make it for me?"

I shrugged, then began counting on my fingers. "You saved the world, you saved my life, you came to the Underworld with me, you survived a brutal kidnapping, you..."

He put his hands up. "Alright, alright, I get it. I'm amazing."

I rolled my eyes, still smiling, and we both dove in. It was probably wrong of us not to offer it to anyone else, and to eat the whole things ourselves, but I didn't care. This wasn't their we-saved-the-world pie, it was ours. And man, I never knew just how good a slice of pie could taste.

Only, as reached for another spoonful, I felt a familiar tingling in my abdomen, where I knew the cut had been healed. I cleared my throat, and slowed my pace, but kept eating so Matt wouldn't get suspicious. I'd check later, just in case it wasn't fully healed, or to find out whatever the Hades was making it ripple with a dull pain I thought I'd long since gotten rid of.

~

After finishing the pie and bringing the dirty cutlery and pie dish to the Big House kitchen, we returned to Support Group and a very unpleased Terra. Pain forgotten, we took our spots around the ping pong table to listen in, and offer anything we could to help make the game more "exciting".

"Fire cannons," Seth suggested, and Tiana grimaced beside me.

"No." Terra replied.

"Fire boomerangs,"

"No."

"Flame throwers activated by in-ground pressure—"

"How about we steer clear of fire-related additions?" Terra replied. Seth slumped back in his chair, twiddling his thick thumbs together like thinking of something other than fire had stumped him.

"Mirages?" Alia suggested. She was a small girl, maybe ten, and I hadn't noticed her prior.

Terra furrowed her brows. "How do you mean?"

"Well, um, maybe we set up silk screens, hide the projectors in trees, and project a moving image of the flag on it, for both teams, so they'll get side tracked?"

Terra mulled over the idea for a second before smiling. "Never been done before, unexpected, sounds like an amazing idea. We'll make plans and craft it following the meeting."

Alia smiled, content with herself, and nodded.

"And now, monsters. As you're aware, there are already monsters who reside in the woods. However, on special occasions and to ensure demigods are up to par on their fighting skills, Chiron likes throwing in more challenges. We have three options..."

I'd mostly tuned out, offering no kind of help. When I was sure Terra wasn't watching me through the corner of her eye anymore I slipped a headphone in and pressed play on my iPod nano. I didn't mind being here instead of running the obstacle course by the lava wall, but I wasn't particularly interested in picking a monster for my friends to fight.

Instead, I turned my attention over to my own thoughts, trying to answer the impossible question: what did support group kids do while everyone else played Capture the Flag? All day people had been nudging my shoulder, saying we'd get to see the special guest tonight while the other demigods partook in the game, Chiron watching them. Every single one also conveniently seemed to forget who this special guest was, answering my question with a shrug. I tried to badger it out of Matt, but even he refused to tell me.

"You'll just have to see," he'd said.

I wondered who it could be that could command such respect that not even Tiana would tell me who they were, who was so special I didn't see every day at a camp activity or at least in the dining pavilion. Did this visitor drive up only on Fridays, spend the few hours a game of Capture the Flag took with us, then leave? Was it possibly a ghost? If so, no thanks. I'd had enough of those to last for a while.

Since I'd been back I'd seen the occasional person dressed in white, not for very long, and not very frequent. I understood now that if people died nearby, their souls would reach towards me (specifically) with their dying wish on their lips. That was another thing I was working on. I'd purchased a notebook from the camp store and began writing them down. If I ever found someone related, someone they wanted me to pass a message to, I could. As of now, at camp, that was more of a dream for the future. When I went back for school, or later in life, I figured that could be a side thing. Y/N the medium? Well, maybe not. Maybe I'd write it in letters and slip them under doors. I didn't know yet.

I was shaken from my distracted cycle of thinking by that same, unmistakeable pain pulsing along my abdomen. So sudden this time I sucked in a breath, I saw Matt look at me through my peripheral vision. I turned my gaze towards Terra as if I were intently listening, hoping Matt would do the same. It was still dull, but definitely worse than the last pain. As quickly as it had come, the pain was gone, leaving me clutching my abdomen for no reason, but unable to move my arm away just in case Matt thought it meant anything more than me sitting like that to be comfortable.

Don't get me wrong, Matt and I definitely had come a long way from hiding things from each other. When we really needed to, we were our own support group, and the two of us helping each other out was better than expressing our feelings to the whole group and an unqualified daughter of Apollo. Yet we both were aware the other had secrets, things we weren't yet willing to share and might never be. Granted, everyone had things they'd never tell anyone else. This was different. Keeping this weird pain from Matt wasn't me holding on to a secret very important to me, it was fear holding me back.

Of course, a lot of the fear I'd grown to understand was irrational. Even though I knew now that my schizophrenia had been misdiagnosed, an underlying part of my subconscious maintained the whole Henry idea. That I was sitting in some psychiatric wing somewhere, imagining all of this, and that me feeling this pain meant that in my hallucination this wound had, in fact, been healed, but in the real world the cut was still there, this pain a reminder of it. I shook that idea from my head. One of the things I wouldn't talk about to Simon, support group, or even Matt was definitely that one voice screaming, even still, that all of this was fake. It was always there. It was something I had to learn to ignore.

My mind had conjured up some other fun ideas of why this was happening, though. Namely, Hades hadn't cured me completely, either intentionally or unintentionally. I was still dying. I wasn't dying, there was no pain, and it was all in my head. The list continued, albeit not helpfully.

And then the meeting was over, and I excused myself to go back to my cabin.

"Y/N?" Matt called after me as I started away from the Big House.

"Meet you at canoeing!" I promised.

I just had to double check, for the sake of my own sanity. When I got into the cabin I had yet to share with someone, I closed the door behind me, and pulled my orange camp shirt up if only slightly. As expected, there was no big wound, not even a scar. Nothing. I frowned, pulled my shirt down, and headed over to the Sound.


	20. SEVENTEEN: Always

It was the moment I had been waiting for. My forefinger was pressed into my thumb in anticipation, I waited with bated breath for Chiron to say it. That dinner was over, and that it was time for Capture the Flag.

When he finally did, I gave Simon a quick hug, and ran to Matt's side.

"Strawberry fields," I told him, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him along. He returned my persistence with a smile, showing off his freckles and kind brown eyes. I noticed he'd slipped a hoodie over his camp shirt, hood pulled tight against his neck as though it were hiding the brand Tyler had made. I didn't say anything about it. When he was ready he'd stop hiding it, like he had before. By now it was hard for me to even focus on the burns that ran across the right side of his face and just down over his neck. I had become so used to it, so used to it bing a part of him. We reached the strawberry fields, and met up with a few other support group members there, standing in the very centre of the fields, looking up at the sky as the sun slowly began descending.

So far, there was no sign of a wondrous being who came only for us - and I was almost worried it was some big prank. If it was, that'd be super uncool, and I'd be sure to show it to them by not attending a few meetings. After everything, I just wanted some excitement.

It took a while, but Terra and the rest of the group - save for three half-bloods permitted to play the game - joined us in the centre of the strawberry fields.

There was chatter amongst separated groups of the demigods, some picking strawberries to enjoy while they talked, others seemingly playing charades. I kept my eyes open, and Matt kept promising he'd be here soon. He, that was about the only clue I had. I was beginning to fall into a conversation, losing the spark of awe I had before. The least this guy could have done was show up on time.

Maybe half an hour later, conversation came to a screeching halt. Everyone turned their attention to the man who'd appeared out of nowhere, a few rows of strawberries away. He haphazardly reached to pick one of the red fruits, and as he did the plants reached up to greet him, blooming with so many strawberries that it weighed itself back to the ground.

The man was shorter than average, with curly black hair and a curly black beard to match. He was in a sort of leopard printed button up shirt and cargo shorts. I couldn't read his face, much less figure out how he appeared from thin air.

"Y/N," Terra said somewhere behind me, "Alia, Luci, meet our special guest. Lord Dionysus."

Oh crap.

Without thinking I straightened my back out and smoothed down my shirt. Sure, I'd seen Hades and Zeus, but this was a god who had came down specifically for us. I tried to remember something Eleo had said about Dionysus before, but came up empty.

Dionysus made his way to the group, and we sat in from of him with our backs to the bushes like school children, eager for the teacher to speak. Matt quietly informed me that he'd make some welcome speech, and then we'd continue mingling. Dionysus would call on specific people to have an audience with, because of something he himself was about to explain.

In a chesty voice that lulled me into a calm, he spread his arms wide, diet Coca-Cola fresh in hand, and began to speak. Though his name was Dionysus, he prompted us to call him Mr. D, like he'd been called back when he helped run this camp alongside Chiron after a romp in the woods with Zeus' favourite wood nymph. Running camp, as he described it, had been the worst punishment he'd had to endure, and it made me wonder why he'd come back to camp every Friday.

"As you all know," he said in a way that made me think if I didn't know, I should have, "I am the god of wine and fertility of nature." He surveyed the faces of the demigods scattered before him. "Yet, I am here because I am also the god of madness."

So he came here to say we were insane. Then his head turned to me, and his eyes locked on mine, as if he knew exactly what I just thought. He turned away, just as quick.

"This means that I know what you are dealing with, more than most. I see you all, and I see what comes with you. Trust, I am not this nice to everyone. But I see your struggles, and I've heard your cries, and I have come to help you. However, you're not to tell Chiron that I've been here, nor anyone else at camp."

Mr. D spoke a bit more about it - why he was here to help, what he was doing, and how if we told anyone he called us by our real names he'd turn us into dolphins. Then, like Matt had said, we broke off once more into our separate groups and Mr. D asked particular people, one by one, to join him for a brief conversation. I didn't know what he was saying to them, but Tiana had given him a hug and left with wet eyes, Alia nodded grimly without much talking and turned away, and then he'd called Matt. I hung around Terra, Luci, and the strawberries, picking a few and making light conversation. I couldn't stop my eyes from watching the two talk, though.

I watched as Matt did most of the talking, Mr. D prompting him to continue every once and a while. I felt my brows crease as Matt's shoulders slumped, and he pulled loosely at his collar, and I knew what he was showing the short god. I wasn't sure if their conversation was the longest or if it only seemed long because I was staring, trying to read their lips, hear what Matt could be telling him. Then I chastised myself. It wasn't my business. Matt would tell me what he wanted me to know.

At some point during their conversation, both heads swivelled to look at me, and I dove behind a strawberry bush to try and look less suspicious. Matt wandered back eventually, but it wasn't me who was called next. I wondered if I'd be called at all. I wondered what the qualifications were to have an audience with a god. Matt wouldn't tell me about their conversation, just that he needed it. Very soon the three hours had almost come to an end. Terra explained the games usually ended before the allotted time was up anyway, and that they must only be later because of the screens with flag decoys being displayed on them.

"The game is almost over, Chiron won't let it go into overtime. Better start heading back. Thank you, once again, Lord Dionysus for gracing us with you presence." I watched him turn as though moving to leave.

Cool. Thumb pressed into my forefinger, I sighed, then immediately wished I hadn't. The same pain struck my abdomen as I sucked in a deep breath of air, clutching it tight with one hand and trying to look as normal as possible while covering my mouth with my other hand.

"Y/N!" Matt's eyes widened as I choked back a sob. And then, the pain was gone.

Terra rounded on me. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I straightened out, swallowed, and fixed my shirt from where I'd bunched it up. "Yeah, I'm fine, that wasn't anything to worry—"

"There's always time," Mr. D said. He hadn't left. In fact, he held a hand out for me to take. Baffled, I reached for it, and with a jarring pull from my temples we were somewhere else. No, still the strawberry fields at camp, but everyone was gone.

"I... What..."

"It was always you," Mr. D sighed, shaking his head. "It's not your fault, but since you were born it was always you. Often the most powerful demigods are those destined for the hardest lives." Mr. D looked at me with soft, kind eyes I didn't expect from the man who threatened to turn me into a dolphin. "I'm sorry. It's time to face the truth now. It's over. You can finally rest. Yet still, you don't grieve."

I didn't answer. I didn't know what to say.

"The quest is over. You refuse to talk about it, to think on it, to reflect on what happened and let it settle in. Your feelings are being bottled up, and as I'm sure anyone can tell you, that's not healthy. You're tearing yourself up from the inside out. Beyond the quest, your mother." I swallowed. "Your mother is dead, yet even for her you refuse to grieve. Honour her."

I didn't want to. I didn't want to think about the quest - that's why I wasn't bringing it up in support group. I didn't want to think about my mom because every time I did my chest hurt like something was pressing against it. "You... Are taking me apart like bad glue on a get well card."

"It's my job." He shrugged. I furrowed my brows. "Though music helps you, do not rely on it. You need to talk about it to someone, even if it's only to me. When the world gets too heavy, put it on my back."

Different topic. "Why does my abdomen hurt?"

Mr. D looked amused for a second. "Unfortunately, that's not a different subject. Your father, Hades, healed you, but at the same time, he did not. You don't understand. I realize that you didn't fight on the side of your sibling against Hades, but you did think about it. You understood why he'd want to do something like that. You sympathized with him. You understood his motivation. Although I cannot and am not telling you to go against another of the Olympians, note that the rebel alliance has only currently been disbanded. It will return. Hades had many opportunities to save your mind from this fate, but alas, what is done is done. And your grievances against them are giving you a, how can I phrase this, phantom pain of sorts."

I looked at the strawberries. I was getting a lot of mixed messages, but what really stuck out was that he was right. Of course he was. "So I'm only imagining this pain, because deep down I really agree with everything Tyler did."

"I didn't say that."

"I could kid myself in thinking that I'm fine." I mumbled.

Mr. D smiled sadly at me. "You could. Yet I encourage you not to. Trust these pains will continue until you decide to acknowledge every single suppressed emotion. I don't know where this will lead you, but I know you're strong enough to get through it. Being a demigod, frankly Y/N, sucks."

I stood there silently for a bit. Every Friday I could have a pow wow with the god of madness about how crazy I was, or...

"Yes, yes." Mr. D commented. "A very good choice. Though Simon might also be someone you can talk to about such, Matteo understands it in ways he cannot. I have given him the same advice. You two can talk to each other, if you so choose."

I cleared my throat, waited a beat. "Would I be a good—"

"Psychiatrist? Yes. Learning about these things will allow you to help people, but it will also teach you more about yourself. And you need to promise not to let it destroy you."

"I'll do my best not to go insane."

Mr. D shook his head like I shouldn't have said that, but continued nevertheless. "You don't know this yet but you're already helping people. Hades has been guarded since an unfortunate incident with another of his children. He used to be very supportive of his children. He used to 'give them a little love' as you've said," My eyes widened. Had every god been able to hear that? "Now, thanks to you, he's beginning to again. Starting with healing you. A god of death, saving his daughter from death — against all morals and rules. Don't let anyone fool you, the tree helped, but it was you father. He was never as unimpressed as he let on."

But then we were surrounded by people — no, I was, and Mr. D was gone.

Matt pulled me into a hug. At first I was worried it was because he somehow knew what was said in that conversation, but Dionysus had been very careful. Whatever anyone said to him was kept in confidence. We were mad, and he was the god of madness. He wouldn't betray our trust.

"Don't scare me like that, please." He said in my ear. "Something's wrong, and you don't have to tell me, but don't say it's nothing. That's something. And if you're dying or something—"

"It was always you."' I stopped him, hugging him tighter. "Always."


	21. Epilogue: Lucky

It's okay for demigods not to be okay.

People think that when you're a hero, you do everything as a hero. You wake up as a hero, you brush your teeth as a hero, you plagiarize Deadpool as a hero, but that's not true. (Shush, it works with what I'm trying to say.) Being a hero means doing something good when it matters. And even heroes can falter. We can agree with the bad guys, as long as we don't join them. We can be totally not okay in ways most people can't understand, as long as we know it's okay to not be okay. It's okay to look weak in front of people, as long as we remember we are never really weak as long as we surround ourselves with other heroes. I know that now.

I went back to school with the help of Chiron. I miss not having classes everyday with Simon, or Matt helping me to a dreamless sleep to escape the nightmares or insomnia. But the old centaur has me on a fast-pass to getting my degree at a super young age. I don't know how he pulled it off, but knowing I'm working towards helping more people makes me feel a little less lonely. Don't get me wrong; though I can't visit camp every weekend, Simon gets his dad to drive him to my residence at the school I attend, and we have very long and entertaining 'Iris Message' calls to annoy Matt with. I'm waiting for summer so I can give him a good, real, physical hug.

Matt's gotten accustomed to the scarred mark now forever embedded in him. He hates what it stands for, but he wears T-shirts, and barely hides it or his face from the people he knows. When he meets new demigods he always reverts back to the guy I used to know who turned his head slightly to hide the burn tissue from me. It's a fear of being rejected. And although he seems pretty shy, when you do get to know him, Matt doesn't stop chatting.

I don't talk to Simon as much about what's going on inside my head, but he's the one I go to about my mom mostly. His dad takes me to see her grave every week, and because Simon knew her I feel more comfortable. Simon knew my mom - knew she was protecting me, always. Knew her bad jokes, her good cookies when she got enough free time to bake them. Knew how tired she was when she got home from a long shift and he and his dad would bring us dinner instead of take out. Matt understood missing a mom, though for different reasons. I know that it's time to let go.

Simon, so I don't forget because he's super proud of this, got three scholarships to different schools for any career path he decides to pursue. Keep in mind our age. I got into college because of some Chiron magic, my best friend is just a genius.

So yes. We're really the three amigos. Best friends. We do typical best friend stuff like watch movies when I come back to New York on holiday, run from monsters and call each other over to help fight them all the time (I don't fight, so as soon as the empousa appears you know who I'm calling).

Alas, as much as my talks with Mr. D have helped, I'm still not particularly fond of what happened on the quest. Trust me, I have talked about it. To Dionysus, to Simon, especially to Matt. Every once and a while I get an ache in my abdomen - but truthfully it's not very often and a much duller pain than previously. I still have my score to settle with Hades, but I know he's trying.

All the marks have settles on my skin from all the places that I've been. I feel the light for the very first time, as though the Underworld had been shielding it from me since forever. Truthfully, I'm lucky to be alive, and not just because Hades saved me. I still see dead people. It doesn't help during lectures in class, especially since I'm already the youngest there, but I've grown accustomed. I've been learning techniques to keep me grounded; when I am down, I lay my hands upon the ground. Remember all the face that I've seen, everyone who drives me forward, living, dead, and immortal. It comes with a warm feeling, and it helps keep me grounded.

I haven't given Tyler another thought, but I did let Chiron know about the 'rebels' coming back in the future. I didn't rat Mr. D out, I said I had a feeling, and that was a perfectly acceptable answer for the centaur. I couldn't shake the feeling that even with Tyler gone they were getting stronger. But that was just a worry, and everyone had it. They weren't a threat anymore, and they wouldn't be for at least a few more years.

Or so, we'd hoped.


End file.
